EPL: Foxes tackle relegation threatened Everton

Leicester City vs. Everton
Venue: King Power Stadium
Kick Off: 2PM

Having seen their Europa Conference League hopes crash and burn at the Stadio Olimpico, Leicester City resume the remainder of their Premier League campaign with visit of Everton at the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes were eliminated from continental competition after a 1-0 second-leg semi-final loss to Roma, while the Toffees most recently won by the same scoreline against Chelsea.

While many Foxes fans will feel aggrieved at the performance of the officials in Rome, Jose Mourinho’s cup-winning mentality proved too difficult for Leicester to overcome at the Stadio Olimpico, with the Giallorossi’s English hero Tammy Abraham propelling his side to the showpiece event.

Following a 1-1 draw in the first leg at the King Power, Abraham’s bullet header flew past Kasper Schmeichel into the back of the net with 11 minutes gone to condemn Brendan Rodgers’s men to a miserable journey back home, as Roma set up a showpiece meeting with Dutch giants Feyenoord.

It has not been too much of a surprise to see Leicester’s domestic fortunes suffer a nosedive amid their continental quest, but it is now six games without success in all tournaments for the Foxes, who went down 3-1 to Tottenham Hotspur in their most recent Premier League battle.

It would take a remarkable set of circumstances for the 11th-placed Foxes to break into the top seven now, as a 10-point chasm separates them from West Ham United, although they do boast games in hand on almost all of the teams around them.

However, Rodgers’s side will seemingly be condemned to a season without European football next term, but they do bring a 10-game unbeaten home run into today’s clash – winning three of their last four on their own turf in the Premier League.

Coming up against the man who replaced him in the Stamford Bridge dugout did not phase Frank Lampard by any stretch, as the Blues legend and former boss witnessed his side dig deep and hold on to a slender 1-0 lead against Thomas Tuchel’s side at Goodison Park.

Richarlison’s strike and the heroics of Jordan Pickford got the Toffees over the line last weekend, with the latter producing one of the saves of the season to thwart Cesar Azpilicueta and ensure that survival would remain in their own hands with four games left to play.

Everton remain in the relegation zone before the weekend’s fixtures commence but are only two points adrift of both Leeds United and Burnley having played a game fewer, with the latter facing a difficult trip to Arsenal today.

The Toffees’ recent resilience has come to the fore in front of their own fans of late, but they bring a seven-game Premier League losing run away from home into today’s game and have taken a meagre six points on the road all season – unsurprisingly a league low.

Lampard’s side have also conceded at least two goals in all of their away games since the turn of the year, but they won 2-0 at the King Power in December 2020 and left it very late to snatch a 1-1 draw against Leicester on Merseyside only a couple of weeks ago.

Leicester City possible XI: Schmeichel, Pereira, Soyuncu, Fofana, Castagne, Tielemans, Soumare, Albrighton, Maddison, Barnes, Iheanacho.

Everton possible XI: Pickford, Coleman, Holgate, Mina, Iwobi, Delph, Doucoure, Mykolenko, Gordon, Richarlison, Gray.