Leicester look to extend unbeaten run against wobbling Watford

Watford are the visitors to the King Power stadium on Saturday as they look to bounce back from defeat to Liverpool last time out. Leicester also failed to secure victory last weekend, but did recover to secure a 1-1 draw against Brighton despite being down to ten men after a James Maddison red card.

Only one place separates these two sides in the table, with Javi Gracia’s Watford sitting one place ahead of Leicester in ninth.

The Spaniard has signed a new four-and-a-half year deal at the Hornets after an impressive start to the season which saw the Hertfordshire outfit win their first four Premier League outings, including a 2-1 win over Champions League hopefuls Tottenham. His side have struggled recently, however, failing to win in November and only achieving one point in their matches against Newcastle, Southampton and Liverpool.

Leicester have won all four Premier League home matches against Watford, most recently running out 2-0 victors in January of this year thanks to goals from Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez.

This fixture back in 2013 represents fond memories for Watford fans, when Anthony Knockhaert’s missed penalty for Leicester resulted in a Troy Deeney goal at the opposite end, sending Watford to Wembley in the Championship play-off final.

Watford managed to survive until the 67th minute against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool before falling to a 3-0 defeat and will face a tough task in bouncing back from that result, having only won once in 13 PL away matches in December.

They will be buoyed by the return of Jose Holebas (calf), who started the season in fine form, creating four assists in his first four games whilst also scoring a goal in that time. Fellow full-back Daryl Janmaat misses out due to a lack of fitness, whilst Tom Cleverly (achilles) and Adalberto Peñaranda (foot) will also miss Saturdays game.

The Foxes continue to monitor long-term absentee Daniel Amartey, who continues to recover from a broken ankle, whilst Harry Maguire (knee) and Rachid Ghezzal (leg) are both expected to return next week for Claude Puel’s side. Matty James remains a major fitness doubt for the clash, although Vicente Iborra could feature after recovering from a knee injury.

Prediction: This is expected to be a close-fought affair with both sides fighting to overtake the other with a win, but Leicester could use their home form to leapfrog Watford into ninth.

Leicester 2 Watford 1