Premier League high-flyers Leicester City succumbed to one of the most surprising defeats of the campaign so far when they were beaten 2-1 by Southampton at the King Power Stadium last time out. Although the Foxes were clearly the dominant force in the first meeting between the two sides earlier in the season (when Leicester won 9-0), Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men worked supremely hard to turn things around.
With that gutting league defeat now behind them, the Foxes must once again focus on maintaining the gap between themselves and the chasing pack, and ensure that they’re able to finish in a Champions League spot come the end of the season. Their next challenge will be posed by Sean Dyche’s Burnley side on the weekend, who themselves have been on a fairly pathetic run of form, and are yet to win a league game since the turn of the year.
Team News
Wilfried Ndidi’s successful knee operation came as positive news to Leicester City fans, but he isn’t expected to return to full matchday fitness for atleast another month. Similarly, Daniel Amartey has also gotten an operation done on his injured ankle but has no return date in sight. Matthew James has returned to training and did play a game with the U23s recently, but is said to be far from first-team readiness still. Although Wes Morgan could be ready in time for this fixture, the likelihood of him participating in the tie from the start looks rather bleak.
4-1-4-1 Leicester City Predicted Lineup Vs Burnley
Formation: 4-1-4-1
Defence
Veteran shot-stopper Kasper Schmeichel will be tasked with the role of guarding the Foxes’ sticks, with the familiar faces of Caglar Soyunçu and Jonny Evans deployed just in front of him for added protection. The duo has been in good form since the start of the campaign and had an extremely rare blemish against Southampton last weekend. Ben Chilwell and Ricardo Pereira are set to continue in the full-back roles for this fixture as well.
Midfield
English breakout star Hamza Choudhury has been preferred to the other holding midfield options at Brendan Rodgers’ disposal in recent weeks, and that trend looks set to continue for this tie. In front of him, Dennis Praet could drop down to the bench to the replaced by Belgian star Youri Tielemans, who will be partnered by the sought-after midfielder James Maddison. Harvey Barnes and Ayoze Perez are set to take up the wide roles in an attempt to offer the striker some added support.
Attack
Jamie Vardy is expected to pip Kelechi Iheanacho for the starting role once again against the Clarets as the Englishman will be eager to regain his blistering goalscoring form from the start of the campaign. With more goals to his name than Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Marcus Rashford this season, the former Fleetwood Town man will be eager to continue leading Brendan Rodgers’ forward line.
