Leicester face Newcastle in pursuit of Europe

Not since their fairytale title win have people been talking about Leicester City being able to break the top six, however after a near-perfect start to this campaign they welcome Newcastle to Leicestershire with the aim of continuing there incredible run of form.

Last time the two met was at the start of the season in the Carabao Cup, this game ended 1-1 with the game being decided on penalties as Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes progressed to the next round. Though when they last met in the league last season, the now Leicester player Ayoze Pérez scored the only goal of the game as the magpies gained all three points.

Apart from a 1-0 loss to Manchester United where Marcus Rashford scored a penalty, this matches hosts have been on fire apart from drawing with this matches opponent which lead to a spot-kick win in the Carabao Cup.

Most recently the foxes beat Championship side Luton Town 4-0 and that was fresh off the back of beating Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham last weekend. The other two matches in their last six games were a 3-1 win when they hosted Bournemouth and a 2-1 away win against Sheffield United.

For Newcastle, they have struggled getting only one win which was like Leicester when they played Tottenham at the end of last month. Draws have been the normal result for the northern side as they have picked up a point when facing Brighton (0-0); Watford (1-1) while they also drew with Leicester.

Those draws did come in between losing games to Liverpool and Premier League new boys Norwich City with both being 3-1 losses.

What the managers had to say:

Brendan Rodgers spoke on the controversial VAR call which aided his sides 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur last weekend:

“There will always be a debate. It’s something that is part of our game now and we have to accept it.

“Some go for you, some go against. A few millimetres offside, but it was offside.

“It’s trying to manage momentum now. That’s important”

Steve Bruce gave his view on the opposition and explained when they faced Brighton his team were not good enough:

“Leicester are a good side, and they’ve evolved into a very, very good side over the years. We know if we’re going to get something we’ll have to be at our best.

“We didn’t play well enough against Brighton with or without the ball. It always concerns you when you don’t play well enough… If we’re going to make a fist of it this year, we’re going to have to be better than we were last week.”

Head to Head-

Leicester Wins- 45

Draws- 27

Newcastle Wins- 53

Team News-

The biggest question for Leicester City is whether key attacker James Maddison will be featuring in this weekend’s match, the player has been pictured back in training however it is still 50/50 to whether the England International player will feature.

There is good news in regards to key players coming back in for Bruce’s men as Allan Saint-Maximin, Andy Carroll and DeAndre Yedlin which will mean they could all feature in Leicestershire but this good news is ruined by midfielder Jonjo Shelvey being out.

The Midfielder picked up a grade two hamstring injury in their previous match with Brighton and while there was hope it wasn’t too serious he will be out for at least a couple of games. This match will come too early for Matt Ritchie whose still recovering from an ankle injury.

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