Manchester City host Leicester City at Etihad Stadium in the English Premier League fixture on Boxing Day blockbuster. The Citizens are looking to extend their lead at the top of the table further as Liverpool are missing the Boxing Day fixture due to the Covid-19 outbreak in the United Kingdom.
Manchester City vs Leicester City English Premier League 2021-22 Preview:
Manchester City
The Citizens are looking for an eighth straight Premier League win against Leicester City. They are in red hot form recently with no defeat since the start of November. Manchester City are at top of the table with 44 points from the opening 18 league matches. Both Liverpool and Chelsea lost points in their recent league fixtures. And City won big in their latest match to extend their lead over title contenders.
Manchester City now lead by 3 points to second-placed Liverpool, and 6 points to third-placed Chelsea. They are 16 points ahead of fifth-placed West Ham United. So the title race has shaped clearly in between Manchester City and Liverpool as expected in the pre-season. Chelsea are also in contention for the title challenge but their recent form suggests otherwise. City have registered most wins this season, 14, drawn 2, and lost 2 matches so far. In the process, they have scored 44 goals, 2nd best in the league, and conceded just 9 goals, the best goals-against record in the league this season.
The covid-19 outbreak has affected their rivals’ campaign this season including title contenders Liverpool and today’s opponents Leicester City. The Citizens have not suffered from the big and long-term injuries and are also unaffected by the Covid-19 outbreak. But the only worrying thing for manager Pep Guardiola is the hectic schedule. They have played their every scheduled fixture so far and now facing three fixtures in less than 7 days. The Citizens have more than enough quality in reserve to place fresh legs in their next match which is against newly-promoted Brentford. So we can expect a strong starting eleven from Pep on Boxing Day blockbuster.
Current Form: W W L W W W
Leicester City
It’s been a difficult month for Leicester City fans. They were knocked out of the Europa League by Napoli in a 3-2 away thriller in their last group stage fixture. Then they suffered a disappointing exit from the EFL Cup in the hands of Liverpool on penalties. These two exits have come at a very hard time for Brendan Rodgers’s side, who already struggling with injuries and the Covid-19 outbreak.
The Foxes sit in 9th position in the league table with just 22 points from the opening 16 league matches. They are well behind leaders Manchester City by 22 points, and 10 points behind 4th placed Arsenal. Although they have played two games less than North London giants so there is still hope for the top-four finish for the East Midlands side. They enter this fixture after beating Newcastle United by 4-0 at home. Before that, they had won just 1 league match in their last 6 fixtures. Rodgers will be looking to build upon Newcastle win and concentrate on finishing in top-4 or top-6 this season.
Leicester City have managed just 6 wins this season and only 2 on away fixtures. So the Etihad trip will be a challenging fixture for the Foxes. They did manage to win against Manchester City at Wembly at the early start of the season in the FA Community Shield final. In the respective fixture at Kings Power, Citizens came victorious with a 0-1 win. In the last 10 meetings against Manchester City, the Foxes have lost 8.
Current Form: W D L L D W
Manchester City vs Leicester City English Premier League 2021-22 Team News & Injury Update:
Manchester City
Citizens are one of the few teams who are not missing any players to the Covid-19 outbreak. They are also missing only Ferran Torres to the long-term foot injury. He recently secured a move to Barcelona and it will be official in the coming days. Pep Guardiola recently confirmed that there will be no incoming at Etihad in the winter transfer window.
It is very hard to predict Citizen’s starting eleven, given the quality they possess. Gabriel Jesus started with Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling in the attack against Newcastle but failed to score. Phil Foden can come in his place in the false nine position. Midfield trio Rodri, Bernanado Silva, and Kevin De Bruyne are expected to start again against Leicester City. In defence, there will be no change as Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias have managed to keep John Stones out of contention regularly.
Raheem Sterling has scored in each of his last three #PL matches. He last scored in four in a row in the competition in August/September 2017 ?#MCILEI | @ManCity pic.twitter.com/DuDIi9hvon
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 26, 2021
Leicester City
Leicester City are suffering from the Covid-19 outbreak but can expect many players returning in their big fixture. Harvey Barnes and Timothy Castagne are sure to miss the Etihad trip and the likes of Ayoze Perez, Jannik Vestergaard, and Kelechi Iheanacho are expected to start from the bench.
The Foxes are missing regular centre-backs Jonny Evans and Wesley Fofana to injuries and Caglar Soyuncu was forced off against Liverpool. So we can expect Ndidi or Soumare to play in centre-back role. It will be a nightmare for this new defence to dwell with a fearful Manchester City attack. In attack, Maddison will continue to support Jamie Vardy and Paston Daka.
Manchester City vs Leicester City English Premier League 2021-22 Predicted Line-ups and Result:
Manchester City: Ederson, Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Zinchenko, Silva , Rodri, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Sterling, Foden.
Leicester City: Schmeichel, Albrighton, Vestergaard, Ndidi, Thomas, Dewsbury-Hall, Tielemans, Soumare, Maddison, Daka, Vardy.
Predicted Result: Manchester City 3-1 Leicester City.
Manchester City will be winning this one comfortably considering Leicester City’s recent struggle with injuries and Covid-19.
Follow our Dream11 Prediction: MCI vs LEI.