Leicester vs Man City: How Foxes should line-up
Leicester City host champions Manchester City at King Power Stadium on the 11th September 2021. Here is what you need to know about the match.
In what will be their first meeting since the Community Shield, Manchester City will hope to get one over on Leicester this time at King Power Stadium.
From the stats and facts to expected starting XIs, let us explore this fixture and how Brendan Rodgers can lead the Foxes to victory once again.
Leicester City’s slow start
Some might consider it a little pessimistic to view six points out of nine and a community shield win as slow, but it is not so much the result but the way in which we performed after our community shield win.
I have written multiple pieces on the stats of our start, so I’ll only go over them briefly here. Two wins from three, an expected goals total of 2.57 and an xG Against of 5.05; scoring four and conceding five.
The ‘Citizens’ by contrast also have two wins from three, losing in a minor shock to Tottenham Hotspur and thrashing five goals passed both Arsenal and Norwich City.
From Understat, Man City have an xG of 9.02 and an xGA of only 1.20. This being said, they were against a newly promoted side and then the worst performing Arsenal side we have seen for a while.
Nevertheless, they have been extremely creative, possessively dominant, and devastatingly clinical. They will be a different animal to what we faced in the shield.
There will need to be significant changes to cause issues for the Citizens and prevent many major chances being created.
Expected XIs
Based on the injury news we currently have; we know that the side we have available is what we had for the previous match plus Ryan Bertrand and perhaps Jonny Evans and Jannik Vestergaard, though they will not be at full fitness.
I expect we will see a back three for this match, the front could be three or two. I’d prefer two but I think Rodgers will employ a front three for Leicester.
Expected team: Kasper Schmeichel, Caglar Soyuncu, Daniel Amartey, Timothy Castagne, Luke Thomas, Ricardo Pereira, Wilfred Ndidi, Youri Tielemans, James Maddison (LW), Ademola Lookman, and Jamie Vardy.
light. Hot. 5 Lookman goals that prove he is the right man
Formation: 3-4-3 switching to a 5-3-2 in defence with Madders falling back to help shield the back line. My preference would be a front two of Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho with Madders behind them, but the expected XI offers a pacey versatile defender in Castagne tracking runners and a strong tackler in Cags to block passes.
Let us know on social media who you think will play and who you want to play in this mammoth match.