Liverpool vs Leicester City 31/01/19

31 January 2019

Liverpool and Leicester City face-off at Anfield in midweek’s Premier League fixture, with the hosts hoping to post fourth consecutive PL triumph over the Foxes and keep Manchester City at a four-point distance.

The league leaders seem to have managed to overcome a turbulent period during which they’ve suffered first Premier League loss this season before getting eliminated from the FA Cup. The Merseysiders come into this meeting with a two-game PL winning run although both of those triumphs saw them beating their rivals with a minimal one-goal margin. Nonetheless, the Reds boast an almost perfect home record (W10, D1), having secured seven straight PL home triumphs ahead of this round. However, Liverpool’s firm defense that has conceded just 13 goals in the opening 23 PL games have slowed down in the past couple of weeks. Jurgen Klopp’s men still hold the best defensive record in the English top tier, but they’ve failed to keep a clean sheet in four of their last five competitive encounters, allowing over 1.5 goals per match three times in the process.

On the other hand, the out-of-form visitors have lost three of their last four PL clashes (W1, L3), conceding seven goals while scoring five in the process. Sitting ninth in the table, the Foxes’ situation on the standings won’t change dramatically regardless of the outcome. 13 points adrift of the European promotion zone and 12 points clear of the relegation area, the Foxes don’t have much to battle for in this meeting. Moreover, Anfield is not a place where Claude Puel’s men should be looking for points, considering Leicester failed to beat Liverpool on their last seven visits here (D1, L6). But, if they manage to outplay the leaders, it would probably be to nil, considering all of their last four PL road victories saw them beating their opponents without conceding a goal.

Provisional line-up – Liverpool:

Gk: Alisson Defense: Robertson – Lovren – Virgil van Dijk – Fabinho Midfield: Henderson – Naby Keita – Shaqiri Attack: Mane – Firmino – Salah

Provisional line-up – Leicester City:

Gk: Schmeichel Defense: Chilwell – Wes Morgan – Jonny Evans – Simpson Midfield: Ricardo Pereira – Ndidi – Namplays Mendy – Barnes Attack: Demarai Gray – Jamie Vardy