Leicester City vs Liverpool: Team news, probable line-ups, score predictions, and more - preview

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Leicester City vs Liverpool: Team news, probable line-ups, score predictions, and more - preview

Team news (via Sky Sports)

Liverpool: Fabinho will miss out with a muscle issue, increasing the chances of Ozan Kabak making his debut.

Manager Jurgen Klopp has to choose between Kabak or Nat Phillips, with the other new arrival Ben Davies unlikely to start ahead of either, to play alongside another makeshift option in Jordan Henderson.

Midfielder Thiago Alcantara was absent from some training earlier in the week and may not feature.

Leicester: James Justin has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury ahead of Liverpool's visit.

The 22-year-old damaged his anterior cruciate ligament during Wednesday's FA Cup win over Brighton.

Dennis Praet, Wesley Fofana and Timothy Castagne are out with hamstring issues while Wes Morgan (back) is also sidelined.

Stats to know (via Opta)

  • Leicester have lost their last three home Premier League games against Liverpool, their worst ever losing run in the league against the Reds.
  • Liverpool have won 12 of their last 17 Premier League matches against Leicester (D3 L2), winning six of their last seven against the Foxes.
  • Leicester haven't lost four consecutive home top-flight matches against an opponent since a run of five defeats between 1999 and 2003 against Manchester United.
  • Liverpool are looking to win three consecutive away Premier League matches for the first time since winning eight in a row between November 2019 and February 2020.
  • Liverpool have lost consecutive league games for the first time under Jürgen Klopp - they've not lost three in a row in the Premier League since November 2014 when managed by Brendan Rodgers.

Predicted line-up

LFC XI: Alisson, Robertson, Henderson, Kabak, Alexander-Arnold, Wijnaldum, Thiago, Jones, Mane, Firmino, Salah

Score predictions

Mark Lawrenson, BBC Sport: Leicester 1-1 Liverpool

For me, the key for Liverpool finding their old form is to stop worrying about what is going on at the back, where they are not going to be at full strength until Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip are back from injury.

Instead, they just need to pick a team that gives the front three as much service as possible because that is how they are going to win games, even if they concede a few too.

Divij K, Tribuna.com: Leicester 1-3 Liverpool

With Leicester not having either of their regular left-backs, it should be a feast for Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who generally performs well against the Foxes.

Leicester's style of play suits this Liverpool side and with a statement performance needed, I think the Reds will deliver away from home and get the victory and the 3 points.

Quotes from the managers

Jurgen Klopp: "I couldn't respect Brendan's work more. The job he is doing and they are doing is really really good (at Leicester). They had some injury problems too and came through properly and are now a real competitor.

"Jamie Vardy is obviously a proper challenge the way he gets set up by his mates but you can only do it with the whole team, you have to avoid the passes to him. Jamie is a world class player in a specific area of the pitch."

Brendan Rodgers: "They've got fantastic players. The front line's still there. I know Jordan [Henderson] really well and he's a huge leader for them, on and off the field. The likes of him and [James Milner] will drive the players.

"They've set such a level over the last couple of years that, if there's any drop off, everyone will focus on that. They've still got players that can play at a really high level and they're up there challenging and will continue to."

AuthorDivij KSourceTribuna.com
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