Leicester City vs Newcastle United
Date: 12/04/2019
K/O: 20:00
Venue: King Power Stadium
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
TV: Sky Sports Main Event
Brendan Rodgers and Leicester are looking to make it a fifth successive win in the Premier League on Friday night as they host Newcastle United who are looking to bounce back from back-to-back defeats.
Leicester have been in fine form as of late and are looking to be ‘the best of the rest’ this campaign which could mean European football at the King Power once more. They have the chance to go three points ahead of their nearest rivals Wolves on Friday night yet both Wolves and Watford, who currently sit one point below them, have a game in hand over Rodger’s men.
As for Newcastle, safety is not yet certain for Benitez’ men and the Spaniard will not rest until their safety is mathematically certain. They are winless in three outings yet last time out they were unfortunate to lose at home to Crystal Palace. The Magpies dominated the match but an 81st minute Luka Milivojevic penalty meant the Eagles went home with three points which has all but assured their safety.
One man Newcastle will have to keep an eye on in the Midlands is Jamie Vardy. The Englishman is in fine form currently and has scored six goals in Leicester’s five Premier League matches under Rodgers – which accounts for 50% of Leicester’s goals under their new manager.
Head to Head: The Magpies have the better record in games between the two sides with 52 victories in comparison to Leicester’s 44. The sides have shared 27 draws yet there has not been a draw in this fixture in the last seven fixtures with the last draw coming back in 2010. The Foxes have enjoyed success in this fixture as of late though and have six victories in the last seven – the last being a 2-0 win at St James’ Park back in September.
Team News
Leicester City: Brendan Rodgers will have his usual choices available at centre-back come Friday night as both Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans have returned to training since last weeks victory at Huddersfield. The latter missed out at Huddersfield due to a hip problem with Maguire given the weekend off following the birth of his first child. This resulted in Rodgers relying on Wes Morgan and Caglar Soyuncu ahead of Kasper Schmeichel in goal. It is likely Rodgers will return to Maguire and Evans in the centre of defence, despite the pretty comfortable performance of Morgan and Soyuncu last weekend.
There were slight concerns when Jamie Vardy missed the last few minutes of the clash at the John Smith Stadium yet this was just a precaution following a twinge in his groin. The striker, who has been in stellar form since the arrival of Rodgers, is fully fit and trained normally this week.
In terms of remaining injuries in the squad, Rodgers continues to be blessed with a full bill of health. Daniel Amartey remains with the medical team and continues his rehabilitation whilst Marc Albrighton has returned to training and is looking ‘very, very good’ according to the gaffer. It is possible he could make a return to the matchday squad for the visit of the Magpies yet it will likely be too soon and he will probably miss out again.
Newcastle United: Benitez stated in his pre-match press conference that “now we have five games and we have to think of every one like a final, as we have said many times. We must approach every game with confidence, calm, and the belief that we can do it.” With this being said, Benitez will be looking to put out his strongest starting XI in the East Midlands on Friday.
Florian Lejeune is the only new absentee for the Magpies as he was ruled out for the remainder of the campaign after suffering a serious knee injury in last weeks defeat to Crystal Palace. Sean Longstaff remains sidelined due to a knee injury whilst Mo Diame is expected to return to contention after missing the Palace defeat. Paul Dummett will likely replace the injured Lejeune with the remainder of the side likely remaining unchanged.
Match facts from Opta
- Leicester have won five of their last six league encounters with Newcastle (L1) – as many as they’d won in their previous 29 (W5 D8 L16)
- Newcastle are looking to win consecutive away games against Leicester in the top-flight for the first time since September 1959 under Charlie Mitten
- Leicester have played more Premier League games on a Friday without a victory than any other side in the competition (P6 W0 D2 L4). Meanwhile, Newcastle have lost more Premier League games on Friday than any other side (6)
- Leicester have won their last three home Premier League games, as many as they had in their previous 12 at the King Power Stadium (W3 D2 L7). They last won four in a row at home in May 2017 (a run of five)
- Leicester have won their last four Premier League games, last winning five in a row in April 2017.
- Leicester’s Jamie Vardy has had a hand in four goals in his last five Premier League games vs Newcastle (three goals, one assist), including scoring in this exact fixture last term
- Leicester’s Youri Tielemans has either scored or assisted a goal in five of his last six Premier League appearances, scoring twice and assisting three.
Predicted Starting XIs
Leicester City (4-1-4-1): Schmeichel; Pereira, Evans, Maguire, Chilwell; Ndidi; Gray, Teilemans, Maddison, Barnes; Vardy
Newcastle United (5-4-1): Dubravka; Yedlin, Schar, Lascelles, Dummett, Ritchie; Perez, Hayden, Ki Sung-yueng, Almiron; Rondon
Score Prediction: Leicester City 2 Newcastle United 0
The Magpies haven’t won away from home in the league since Huddersfield back in December and they have conceded two in their last three away outings. The Foxes on the other hand have scored 11 goals in their last four outings and with Jamie Vardy in the form he is in, I fancy them to cruise past Rafa Benitez’ men.
