Liverpool will be a buoyant side as they face a Leicester City side who are close to a crisis and who, after a horrendous run and non-existent title defence, have recently sacked their history making Italian manager Claudio Ranieri. Craig Shakespeare will be in temporary charge of Leicester City for Liverpool’s visit on Monday Night Football with the Premier League champions still searching for their first top-flight goal of 2017. The Reds got back into the groove with a dominant 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur which saw them arrest their slide after an alarming start to 2017.
Klopp will be desperate to see his team maintain this form and while on paper, it seems to be an easy match against the struggling defending Champions, one can never know how a team will respond after their manager has been sacked. There is a lot of emotion running through the King Power Stadium outfit right now and the fans would hope that the desire to answer the critics translates into a good performance.
TRIVIA
- Leicester won this exact fixture last season thanks to a brace from Jamie Vardy (2-0). They’ve not won back-to-back home league games against Liverpool since August 1972.
- The Reds won the previous encounter 4-1 in September, but they haven’t beaten Leicester home and away in the same season since 2001-02.
- The Foxes’ last three Premier League goals against Liverpool have all been scored by Jamie Vardy. He’s the only Leicester player to score against Liverpool at the King Power Stadium.
- However, Vardy has scored in just one of his last 18 Premier League games (a hat-trick v Manchester City in December).
- Liverpool have won more away games against reigning Premier League champions than any other side (8), including at Stamford Bridge in 2015-16. The Reds are also the only side to have done so in consecutive seasons (2000-01 and 2001-02 vs Man Utd).
- Leicester could become the first reigning top-flight champion to lose 15 league games within a season since Leeds United in 1992/93.
- The Foxes have lost their last five league games – the only other reigning top-flight champion to lose six on the bounce are Everton in 1928/29 (final six games of the season).
TEAM NEWS & PREDICTED LINE-UPS
LEICESTER CITY (4-4-2)
New signing Islam Slimani will be assessed ahead of the match. The striker has been struggling with a groin injury, but did has been travelling with the squad. The Foxes will also assess Leonardo Ulloa, who has been out with a thigh problem but it is unlikely he will be making a return to the first team fold.
Schmeichel; Simpson, Huth, Morgan, Fuchs; Ndidi, Drinkwater, Albrighton, Mahrez; Okazaki, Vardy
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3)
Liverpool centre-back Dejan Lovren remains a doubt having failed to recover from the knee knock. The Croat, who travelled to Germany to see a specialist this week, has missed the last two matches and only started light training on Friday. Sturridge is a doubt with a virus attack the latest in a list of his cause of absence.
Mignolet; Clyne, Matip, Lucas, Milner; Henderson, Wijnaldum, Lallana; Coutinho, Firmino, Mane
BETTING ODDS
LEICESTER CITY-19/4
DRAW- 10/3
LIVERPOOL- 8/13
TRIVIA COURTESY – OPTA
