A true test of Leicester City’s purple patch awaits them at the King Power Stadium in today’s lunchtime as Premier League champions, Manchester City pay a visit to the Foxes
Brendan Rodgers’s side convincingly beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-0 last weekend, while City were held to a goalless draw in the Champions League by Borussia Dortmund.
Whatever Leicester have been feeding their stars since the start of October has gone down a treat, as the Foxes are finally rediscovering their best form to enter today’s game having recorded back-to-back wins over Leeds United and Wolves.
The profligacy of the latter has been evident all season long, but there was no such lack of ruthlessness from Leicester when they visited Molineux last weekend, as Youri Tielemans, Harvey Barnes, James Maddison and Jamie Vardy came up with the goods in a 4-0 romping.
Having taken 10 points from a possible 15 during a period of marked improvement, Leicester have both eased the pressure on themselves and their manager to climb out of the relegation zone into 17th place – two points clear of all three sides below the dotted line.
Keeping three successive clean sheets is also what the doctor ordered for Leicester before the visit of the champions, and Rodgers’s side have only shipped two goals in total this month, but not since January 2021 have the Foxes won three in a row in the Premier League.
Furthermore, Rodgers’s side are unbeaten at home this month – taking seven points from a possible nine against Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace without conceding a goal – and Man City have recent experience when it comes to being nullified away from home.
Another day, another missed penalty for Riyad Mahrez, who returns to his old club this week still reliving his 12-yard nightmares from the Westfalenstadion as Man City settled for a point away to a determined Borussia Dortmund side.
Mahrez stepped up for his 32nd career penalty in Germany after going down under a challenge from Emre Can, but he recorded his 10th miss from the spot as Gregor Kobel guessed correctly, although that point was all that was required to confirm a first-placed finish in Group G.
Speaking of first place, Man City could rise above leaders Arsenal to the top of the rankings with victory at the King Power Stadium, with the Gunners’ lead cut to two points last weekend, and Mikel Arteta’s side will not have the chance to respond until they tackle Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
A record of just one win from their last four games is not the Man City that we have grown accustomed to seeing in recent years, and Pep Guardiola’s side have also gone without a single victory or a single goal in their last three away from home, with doubts over Erling Braut Haaland’s fitness doing them no favours in their bid to end that barren streak.
A Boxing Day classic last year saw Man City run out 6-3 winners over Leicester after prevailing 1-0 at the King Power, and the Foxes’ most recent win on home soil over Man City coincidentally also came on that festive date back in 2018.
Rodgers has received a major fitness boost with the return of Wilfred Ndidi to training this week, and Jonny Evans is also scheduled to be back with the group while Ryan Bertrand and Ricardo Pereira remain out for the long-term, though.
Meanwhile, Newcastle United host Aston Villa in the Premier League with momentum building at St. James’ Park that the Magpies can break into the top four for the first time in 20 years.
Villa caretaker manager, Aaron Danks will take charge for the last time here before new manager Unai Emery takes the reins next week.
Not since the days of Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse’s lethal link-up back in 2011-12 have Newcastle made such a good start to the season.
Their fifth-place finish that season would be a remarkable achievement should they be able to replicate it, but the Toon Army have their eyes set on Champions League qualification after proving they can mix it with the best.
Collecting four points from trips to Old Trafford and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium shows they are well in the mix for the top four, especially considering their win last weekend against Spurs saw them leapfrog Chelsea in fourth.
Still being unbeaten at St. James’ Park after six matches is a big factor in their strong start too, as Liverpool remain the only side who have won here in the league this calendar year, winning 10 from 15 home games.
They have not spent mega money yet on the level of a club like Manchester City, but Eddie Howe has efficiently sorted out the basics like improving at the back.
So much so that they currently have the strongest defensive record in the division, being the only club to have a record of under one goal conceded per game.
Despite being winless on the road in their six away games this season and scoring just three times, there is a lot of excitement again at Aston Villa now after a whirlwind week.
After Steven Gerrard was sacked following a dreadful display at Fulham, Danks came in as caretaker and led Villa to a brilliant 4-0 win over Brentford last Sunday.
Emery’s appointment topped off a fine week for the claret and blue side of Birmingham, but the Spaniard will not be on the touchline here due to work permit delays.
He may well be an ideal appointment, because despite his perceived shortcomings at Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain, he worked wonders at Valencia, Sevilla and Villarreal.
Valencia were Champions League regulars under his stewardship, Sevilla won an unprecedented three consecutive Europa League crowns, and he reached the Champions League semi-finals with Villarreal just last season after clinching the Europa League title a year earlier.
The Villa faithful will be more than happy if Emery can lead them away from trouble to a comfortable mid-table finish this season though, and with the World Cup break coming, he should have sufficient time to get most of his squad onside.
