Leicester vs. Norwich
Venue: King Power Stadium
Kick off: 4PM
Nigeria’s duo of Wilfried Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho are expected to play a major role as Leicester City will be looking to make it nine Premier League wins in a row when they welcome struggling Norwich City to the King Power Stadium this afternoon.
The Foxes are currently second in the Premier League table having enjoyed a fine campaign to date, but Norwich are inside the relegation zone with just 11 points to show from their 16 games thus far.
Leicester set a club record of eight straight top-flight victories when they recorded a 4-1 win at Aston Villa last weekend. The team’s form since the October international break has been staggering, and they will fancy their chances of making it nine successive Premier League wins on Saturday afternoon.
The Foxes have only lost two of their 16 league outings this season, which came away to Manchester United and away to Liverpool. It would be fair to say that the hosts were fortunate to triumph on both occasions, though, and Leicester have not missed a beat since the defeat at Anfield.Wins over Burnley, Southampton, Crystal Palace, Arsenal, Brighton & Hove Albion, Everton, Watford and Villa have seen them storm up the table, leaving them six points clear of third-placed Manchester City.
Brendan Rodgers’s side are still eight points off leaders Liverpool but sit an incredible 14 points above fifth-placed Man United, showing that they are in a wonderful position to secure a top-four finish.
Leicester’s next two after this one are away to Man City and at home to Liverpool, though, and Rodgers will be desperate to put another three points on the board ahead of those two mouthwatering contests.
Just 11 points from 16 matches have left Norwich in 19th position in the table, four points behind 17th-placed Villa heading into this weekend’s fixtures.
The Canaries have lost a league-high 11 matches this term, including their last two against Southampton and Sheffield United to keep them firmly rooted inside the relegation zone.
Daniel Farke’s side did pick up four points from their two matches against Everton and Arsenal between November 23 and December 1, but back-to-back defeats have left them in a tough spot heading into this weekend’s contest against a team in serious form.
Teemu Pukki and Todd Cantwell have contributed 12 Premier League goals between them this season, but not too many others have managed to get their name on the scoresheet, and it remains to be seen whether the Canaries can hit the back of the net on enough occasions to keep themselves in the division.
The omens are not exactly terrific for Norwich ahead of this game, though, considering that they have lost their last three meetings with Leicester in all competitions, with their last success coming in a Championship clash in March 2011.
Leicester City possible XI: Schmeichel, Ricardo, Evans, Soyuncu, Chilwell, Tielemans, Ndidi, Praet, Maddison, Vardy, Iheanacho.
Norwich City possible XI: Krul, Aarons, Zimmermann, Godfrey, Lewis, Tettey, Trybull, Buendia, Cantwell, Hernandez, Pukki.