Manchester City will be looking to revenge their Community Shield defeat when they travel to the King Power Stadium to take on Leicester City on Saturday.
City were denied the first piece of silverware of the 2021-22 season when a goal from the club’s former striker Kelechi Iheanacho earned Leicester a 1-0 win at Wembley in August.
Leicester opened the Premiership season with a narrow win at Wolves and also beat newly-promoted Norwich last time out thanks to Marc Albrighton’s decisive effort at Carrow Road, though those victories were sandwiched in-between a horror show at West Ham, where they were thrashed 4-1 by Moyes’ men.
Pep Guardiola’s defending champions have bounced back in fine style after losing that clash at Wembley and on the opening day at Tottenham, with both Norwich and Arsenal put firmly to the sword in respective 5-0 thrashing.
Leicester VS Man City – Team news
Leicester
Leicester are sweating on the fitness of defenders Jonny Evans and Jannik Vestergaard ahead of Saturday’s match against Manchester City.
Evans (foot) and Vestergaard (knee) are being monitored ahead of the visit of the champions and will face late fitness tests.
Summer signing Ademola Lookman could make his Leicester debut and Ricardo Pereira (hamstring) and Ryan Bertrand are likely to be available, but Ayoze Perez is suspended.
Manchester City
Kevin De Bruyne (ankle) is back in training and could feature but the game comes too soon for Phil Foden (foot). Zack Steffen is out after testing positive for coronavirus.
Manchester City duo Ederson and Gabriel Jesus have been cleared to feature at the King Power Stadium.
Leicester City Vs Manchester City – Possible Lineups
Leicester City possible starting lineup: Schmeichel; Ricardo, Evans, Soyuncu, Thomas; Tielemans, Ndidi; Albrighton, Maddison, Barnes; Vardy
Manchester City possible lineup:
Ederson ; Walker, Stones, Dias, Cancelo; Bernardo, Rodri, Gundogan; Grealish, F Torres, Sterling
Leicester Vs Man city – Key Players
Leicester – Jamie Vardy
Leicester forward Jamie Vardy has scored more goals against Manchester City than any other player since Guardiola arrived at the Etihad, netting eight in ten matches , including a hat-trick in last season’s 5-2 win for the Foxes in Manchester.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 27: Jamie Vardy of Leicester City celebrates after scoring his sides second goal during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Leicester City at Etihad Stadium on September 27, 2020 in Manchester, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
After a quiet end of the season last year, the 34-year-old appears to be back to his best, scoring two goals in three league games so far and given his record against City, it would be no surprise to see him have a major impact this weekend.
Man city – Ferran Torres
Manchester City ended the summer without signing striker after their pursuit of Harry Kane hit the dead end. But, City have quickly made a lemonage out from lemon.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – AUGUST 28: Ferran Torres of Manchester City scores their sides fifth goal past Bernd Leno of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal at Etihad Stadium on August 28, 2021 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images )
Ferran Torres has been in decent form this season and he followed on from his double against Arsenal with a goal against Georgia for Spain. He will be looking forward to add to his tally against Leicester.
Opta stats
- None of the last 11 league meetings between Leicester and Manchester City has finished as a draw, with the Foxes winning four to the Citizens’ seven.
- Leicester have won two of the last there meetings with Man City including a comprehensive 5-2 victory at the Etihad last season.
Leicester VS Man City – Prediction
Leicester have proved to be the scourge of Manchester City in recent times, winning two of the last three meetings between the clubs.
However, at the King Power Stadium, the Foxes have lost the last two against their opponents here and won just one of the last six. Bouyed with the return of Kevin Debruyne, City will be looking to add to Leicester woes at king power
Howbeit, City have struggled for clean sheets on their travel of late , conceding in nine of their past 10 matches away from the Etihad.
With records like that, both attacks should be licking their lips ahead of Saturday’s contest, and a high-scoring match appears to be on the cards.
Score Prediction
Leicester 1: 3 Man City
Possible Goalscorers : Vardy ; Torres, Mahrez, sterling