Leicester City vs Liverpool 27/12/19

27 December 2019

Leicester City and Liverpool come face-to-face at the King Power Stadium for a massive top-of-the-table clash in the Premier League (PL) on Boxing Day.

Although they go into this encounter after failing to pick up three points in their past two PL outings (D1, L1), the hosts have still claimed 25 points from the last 30 available, with only Liverpool accruing more over that period. A 3-1 away defeat to Manchester City on the eve of this clash has indeed been only the second PL match this term that has seen Leicester concede more than once per league fixture. A free-scoring Leicester team has now found the net in 13 successive top-flight outings, scoring over 1.5 match goals on ten of those occasions. Furthermore, Brendan Rodgers’ players have secured seven wins in nine PL home games so far this season (W7, D2), netting at least two goals in all of those successes, while restricting their rivals to a maximum of one goal per match each time. A potential worry for the current runners-up is that they’ve allowed the opening goal in four of their last seven top-flight home games, although they’ve managed to turn three of those fixtures around (W3, D1).

Having won 16 of 17 top-flight fixtures this season (D1), Jurgen Klopp’s men, who top the PL table, do have a game in hand on second-placed Leicester and hold a ten-point lead over Brendan Rodgers’ side. After winning the FIFA Club World Cup, the Reds will be looking to maintain winning momentum when they take on a side they’ve not lost to in five of their previous PL H2Hs (W4, D1). Interestingly, all five of those meetings have seen both teams score, with four of them witnessing Liverpool open the scoring inside the first 45 minutes. Even though Liverpool have kept a clean sheet in 38% of their PL road trips this term, they seem unlikely to do it here, as they’ve failed to shut Leicester out in all six of their previous competitive trips to the King Power Stadium. But, the Merseyside giants have won all eight of their past PL matches, although half of those triumphs (4) came via a single-goal margin.