Leicester vs Liverpool preview, team news, stats, prediction, kick-off time
James Justin has been ruled out for the rest of the season; Fabinho will also miss out; follow Leicester vs Liverpool with our live blog on Sky Sports website and app; watch free match highlights shortly after full-time on Sky Sports’ digital platforms and YouTube channel
Friday 12 February 2021 15:11, UK
Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Leicester vs Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday (kick-off 12.30pm).
Team news
Leicester defender 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.
Liverpool‘s stand-in centre-back Fabinho will miss out with a muscle issue so that increases the chances of Ozan Kabak making his debut.
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Manager Jurgen Klopp has to choose between his Deadline-Day loan signing from Schalke or probably Nat Phillips, with 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.
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How to follow
Follow Leicester vs Liverpool in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.
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Jones Knows prediction
When Liverpool meet Leicester, Liverpool usually win.
Liverpool have won the last three matches between these two and going further back, they have won six of the last seven meetings.
Leicester were tipped by many as the team to end Liverpool’s spectacular home record in November but fell to a convincing 3-0 defeat. Despite Liverpool’s problems, there is still a gulf in class, especially when analysing Leicester’s last two performances against Wolves and Brighton in the FA Cup. Jurgen Klopp has never lost three straight Premier League matches. Away win.
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- Premier League fixtures | results
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My betting angle for the match revolves around Roberto Firmino, who is a spectacularly gifted footballer but not a natural goalscorer. That is seen through his expected goals data according to actual goals. In the last three seasons, the chances falling his way should have equated to 35.63 goals yet he’s only recorded 27 – for a player playing at this level, that’s a huge underperformance.
Firmino looks overpriced at 14/1 to score his fourth headed goal vs Leicester.
JONES KNOWS PREDICTS: 1-2
BETTING ANGLE: Roberto Firmino to score a header (14/1 with Sky Bet)
Opta stats
- 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.
- Leicester have lost 16 of their last 20 Premier League games against reigning champions (W2 D2), keeping just one clean sheet in that run. However, they have won two of their last four such games at home (L2), beating Chelsea in 2015-16 and Man City in 2018-19.
- 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.
- Leicester have lost five home Premier League games this season, one more than they lost last season (4). Manager Brendan Rodgers has never lost six home league matches in a single season, also losing five in 2009-10 with Reading in the Championship.
- 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.
- Managers who’ve previously managed Liverpool have lost their last 12 Premier League matches against the Reds by an aggregate score of 39-8. The last former Reds boss to win against them in the Premier League was Roy Hodgson in April 2012 with West Brom.
- Leicester’s James Maddison has been involved in six goals in his last six Premier League home games (4 goals, 2 assists), as many as in his previous 31 at the King Power Stadium (3 goals, 3 assists).
- Liverpool have failed to win five of their last 10 Premier League games in which Mohamed Salah has scored for them (W5 D3 L2). Before this, they had won 35 consecutive league games in which the Egyptian found the net, and only lost one of the previous 58 such matches.
Pitch to Post Preview – Guardiola v Mourinho, Arsenal’s dip and development, and how far away are Man Utd?
In this week’s Pitch to Post Preview Podcast Peter Smith is joined by Sky Sports News reporter Paul Gilmour and Sky Sports feature writer Nick Wright to look ahead to Saturday’s clash between Pep Guardiola’s Man City and Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham, with the league leaders’ imperious form and Gareth Bale’s continued absence from the Spurs XI on the agenda.
We also hear from Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith on Arsenal‘s inconsistency, how Mikel Arteta is building for a better campaign next season, and whether Leeds striker Patrick Bamford can make it into England’s squad for the Euros.
Plus, Nick Wright delivers his verdict on why Manchester United should be ready for a title tilt, Sam Allardyce‘s struggles to turn things around at West Brom, and shares his Pitch for what will happen in the Premier League this weekend.
Listen to the Sky Sports Pitch to Post Podcast on: Spotify | Apple | Castbox
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