Previous encounters between Leicester and Everton makes their clash at the King Power one to look forward too

Recent games between Leicester City and Everton has had it’s fair share of excitement and drama.

Classic strikes from Aiden McGeady in 2014 and Gylfi Sigurdsson back in October 2018 will trigger the memories of Everton fans. It’s also had dramatic endings like that of last season when Kelechi Ihenacho, aided by VAR, scored a 94th minute winner for the Foxes.

It’s even a game synonymous with post match celebrations, Leicester City lifting the Premier League title following a 3-1 victory over the Toffees in May 2016.

And their clash at the King Power on Wednesday night could be another exciting encounter. Leicester and Everton have had two of the brightest starts to the Premier League season, sitting in third and seventh, with many tipping the pair to be in and around the European places come the end of the season.

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Both sides appear evenly matched and contain goalkeepers who are number one for their nations in Jordan Pickford and Kasper Schmeichel.

But they also have injury hit backlines too. With Ricardo Pereira, Caglar Soyuncu and new signing Timothy Castagne recently sidelined for the Foxes, Brendan Rodgers has been forced to shuffle the pack.

Everton on the other hand have been without Lucas Digne and Seamus Coleman, and had to play with four centre-backs in their game with Chelsea last weekend.

What the teams lack in defence, they make up for in their midfield. They each possess a midfield which has a mixture of solidity through the likes of Wilfried Ndidi and Abdoulaye Doucoure, and of course plenty of creativity, through James Maddison, Allan and James Rodriguez.

In addition to strong midfields, the sides also hail two of the best and most inform strikers currently on the scene. Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin is the league’s top scorer with 11 goals, and has scored in each of Everton’s last three away games.

Meanwhile Leicester’s Jamie Vardy is the holder of the Premier League Golden Boot and is currently on nine for the season, scoring in both of the Foxes’ last two games.

We should also mention both the managers, Brendan Rodgers and Carlo Ancelotti. When they took over their teams in Feburary and December of last year respectively, they were on a slump and at the wrong end of the table.

But they have turned around their sides’ fortunes and made them teams who show promise and play attractive brands of football.

They both come into this one following positive results at the weekend. Despite an injury ravaged Everton defence, a Gylfi Sigurdsson penalty ended Chelsea’s 17-match unbeaten run and gave Ancelloti’s side a 1-0 victory at Goodison. It was Everton’s first clean sheet since the opening day of the season.

For Leicester, three first half goals, a brace from Maddison and one from Vardy swept aside Brighton and Hove Albion and made it back to back wins for the East Midlanders.

With the top two of Liverpool and Tottenham kicking off later on Wednesday evening, victory for the hosts would see them move to the top of the table temporarily. For Everton, three points at the King Power would keep them in touching distance of the European places.

Last Season

Leicester and Everton faced each other three times last season, the first (as already mentioned) was at the King Power on December 1, 2019, which the Foxes won 2-1 thanks to Iheanacho’s late strike.

The second came 17 days later in the EFL Cup quarter-final at Goodison Park. Leicester went 2-0 up through Maddison and Jonny Evans, but a volley from Tom Davies and a wonder goal from Leighton Baines sent the game to penalties.

Rodgers’ men won the shootout 4-2 and progressed to the semi-finals where they were knocked out by Aston Villa. Everton got their revenge in the final meeting between the pair back in July, two goals in the opening quarter of an hour from Richardson and Sigurdsson earned the Toffees all three points.

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