Manchester City vs Leicester City
Date: 06/05/2019
K/O: 20:00
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Referee: Mike Dean
TV: Sky Sports Main Event
The pressure is firmly back on Manchester City on Monday night as they welcome in-form Leicester City to the Etihad looking to return back to the summit of the Premier League table.
The red half of Merseyside will have their eyes glued to the TV screen come eight o’clock on bank holiday Monday and will be hoping a former red can do them an unearthly favour and pick up points against the blue half of Manchester. Brendan Rodgers was pipped to the title by the Citizens in his spell on Merseyside and will be looking to hand his former employers a massive boost in the title race with one game to go.
Manchester City face Brighton on the final day, who with safety secure will unlikely put up much of a challenge to Guardiola’s men. Liverpool and Klopp therefore will likely see this fixture as their last chance at Premier League glory and with the Foxes already claiming victory over the Citizens this year, they will be hoping they can do the same on Monday evening.
Pep Guardiola claimed during the week that he was really impressed with Leicester’s recent performances under their new manager and if last weeks performance against Arsenal is anything to go by then the Foxes have certainly got a chance of upsetting the odds against the Premier League champions.
Head to Head: The Citizens have a healthy record against the Foxes having won 58 of the 117 fixtures between the two. There has been 29 draws between the two sides with Leicester boosting 30 wins against the blue half of Manchester.
Leicester did win the last fixture between the two sides though back in December in a 2-1 victory at the King Power whilst eight days before that fixture, they bought Guardiola’s side all the way to penalties in the League Cup. If this fixture is anything to go by from last season though Guardiola should have no problem as his side brushed Leicester off the pitch and scored five in a 5-1 victory.
Team News
Manchester City: Pep Guardiola has two major concerns for the visit of Leicester on Monday night. Kevin De Bruyne remains absent due to a hamstring injury whilst Fernandinho is expected to face a late fitness test due to a knee issue. The midfielder was pictured with strapping on his knee but was training last week and if fit, will certainly not miss out.
Guardiola could opt for a change in central defense and recall John Stones in place of Vincent Kompany due to the pace of Leicester’s Jamie Vardy yet he may opt for the experience of the Belgium who has started the last two games alongside Laporte.
Riyad Mahrez continues to suffer in silence on the bench with his last league action coming in the 2-0 win over Cardiff back at the start of April. If he does feature any way against his old club it will likely be from the bench, with the same being said for Leroy Sane. If Fernandinho does not feature though expect Bernardo to drop back into the midfield three allowing space for either Mahrez or Sane.
Leicester City: Brendan Rodgers continues to be blessed with a full bill of health with the only absentee being that of Daniel Amartey. Hamza Choudhury came into the squad to face Arsenal and will likely feature from the off again alongside Ndidi given the nature of the fixture and the bruit force Manchester City possess in the attacking department.
Marc Albrighton has started the last two fixtures but Rodgers may opt for the young legs of Harvey Barnes or Demari Gray who could both cause City problems. Maddison, Vardy and Teilemens will all start and will look to continue their impressive form as of late. The latter has contributed to seven goals in his last nine league appearances, scoring the opener at the King Power last weekend. As for Jamie Vardy, he got two in that fixture and will be looking to add to his extraordinary tally of 31 goals against the established top-six sides. The defence will likely remain the same for the Foxes with Evans and Maguire in front of Kasper Schmeichel.
Match facts from the BBC
Manchester City are yet to beat Leicester in normal time this season; they lost December’s reverse fixture 2-1 and only progressed from their Carabao Cup quarter-final tie after a penalty shootout.
City have earned 12 successive league wins, scoring 27 goals and conceding just three. It is the longest winning streak in the Premier League this season.
Leicester have scored in a league-high 17 away league matches, with the exception being December’s 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace.
The reigning champions have scored a league-high 56 home goals and not failed to score in any of their 18 top-flight matches at the Etihad.
Pep Guardiola’s side are one goal short of scoring 100 at home in all competitions for the first time in a season.
The Foxes have earned 16 points under Brendan Rodgers since he was appointed at the end of February – only Liverpool and Manchester City have won more in that time prior to the weekend.
Prior to the weekend, no side had conceded more goals in the opening 15 minutes of their Premier League matches than the 12 let in by Leicester.
Rodgers is winless in all five competitive away matches as a manager against Manchester City (D2, L3).
Sergio Aguero has scored 15 home league goals this season, one shy of his best return set in 2011-12.
Vardy has scored an unrivalled 31 goals against established top-six opponents since his Premier League debut in 2014-15.
Predicted Starting XIs
Manchester City (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Kompany, Laporte, Zinchenko; Gundogan, Fernandinho, Silva; Bernardo Silva, Aguero, Sterling
Leicester City (4-2-3-1): Schmeichel; Pereira, Evans, Maguire, Chilwell; Ndidi, Choudhury; Teilemans, Maddison, Albrighton; Vardy
Score Prediction: Manchester City 3 Leicester City 1
Realistically, win this one and City are over the line. Although the Etihad is not known for its rowdy fan base, City will take confidence in the fact they are in front of their home crowd and after seeing Liverpool do the job on Saturday, they are expected to do the same against Rodger’s men. It will be a tense and nervy affair but as we have seen of late, when City need to get the job done they do just that and expect the same on Monday night.
