Leicester City vs Newcastle United 13/04/19

13 April 2019

Leicester City and Newcastle United meet face-to-face at the King Power Stadium in quite opposing circumstances. While the hosts battle it out for the Europa League promotion, the visitors are fighting to preserve their top-flight status for another season.

Residing seventh with the same 47 point tally as Wolverhampton, Leicester have to make the most out of this game if they look to secure European football for the next season. The Foxes come into this meeting after racking up a four-game Premier League winning run. In that period, Brendan Rodgers’ men have scored 2+ match goals in each game while failing to keep a clean sheet three times in the process. Also, Leicester’s recent improvement has seen them gone from four straight PL home defeats to three consecutive wins. Interestingly, all seven of Leicester’s PL home victories have seen the Foxes scored over 1.5 goals, with five of those triumphs coming against the teams residing below them on the standings.

Meanwhile, the visitors’ recent drop-off in form has seen them failed to wrap up all three points in all three of their previous PL outings (D1, L2), as they currently sit seven points clear of 18th-placed Cardiff City with five league fixtures left to go. Far more comfortable at home, the Magpies have secured just 13 of their total of 35 PL points on the road (37.14%), with only two of their nine league wins arriving away from home. What’s more, Rafael Benitez’s men have failed to clinch an away win on all eight of their previous PL road trips (D3, L5), scoring one goal or less seven times across those encounters. Another potential worry for the Spaniard could be his team’s defensive difficulties in that period, with Newcastle conceding over 1.5 goals per match five times while failing to preserve a clean slate during the run.