Leicester City are set to face Southampton at the St. Mary’s Stadium in their Premier League fixture on Wednesday. They are on a 3 game winning streak after a comeback win on the weekend against Newcastle. The match ended 2-3 with Ayoze Perez placing the ball back into his own net in the 86th minute and handing Claude Puel’s men the 3 points.
The Foxes are placed in the 8th spot of the league table, 5 points behind Burnley. James Vardy and Riyad Mahrez are very close to resembling their performances in the title-winning 2015-16 season. With the club youngster, Demarai Gray cementing himself in the first team the attacking line-up will a handful for the Southampton defence throughout the match.
Southampton are entering this fixture after a very toughly contested match against Arsenal on the weekend. They had to work tirelessly to hold the North London side to a draw after their early lead into the match. Mauricio Pellegrino’s men put up a resilient display and will be highly motivated to do the same against Leicester.
Claude Puel has not followed feat with most Premier League managers to integrate the back 3 defence line into his gameplay. He has maintained the 4-4-1-1 formation throughout the current campaign with a lone striker up top and a supporting centre-forward behind him.
Defense
With an average of 3 saves per match and regular first team appearances, Kasper Schmeichel is expected to take up his usual spot between the sticks.
Danny Simpson is expected to take up his usual spot in the right back position. Wes Morgan has combined with Harry Maguire in the centre back position and has been instrumental in holding down the defence line with discipline. After a weekend appearance, Ben Chilwell might not be fielded with Christian Fuchs expected to take up the left back position and surge ahead to provide width to the Leicester attacks.
Midfield
A £12million move to Leicester has already been hailed as a bargain for Spanish midfielder Vicente Iborra. He has been brilliant for the side taking up the duties of formulating attacks from the defensive midfield position. He is expected to start again as usual for this clash alongside, Wilfred Ndidi. The defensive and attacking combination of the duo has been crucial to Puel’s side this season deemed as almost irreplaceable.
Riyad Mahrez is expected to start from his favourite position, the right wing allowing the 26-year-old to take on Ryan Bertrand throughout the game. He will look to perform his usual duties of breaking into counters and launching menacing balls into the box for the strikers to pounce upon.
Marc Albrighton can be expected to take up the left wing and rack up assists with dangerous lobs towards the final third.
Attack
Demarai Gray has been impressive for the team so far this season scoring the important equalizer against Newcastle on the weekend. However, Shinji Okazaki might be favoured to return to the starting line-up with Jamie Vardy up top.
A substitute appearance can be expected in the second half.
