Manchester City vs Leicester City
It’s the Premier League champions against the challengers, only this season the champions are way off the pace.
However, on their day, they remain English football’s top team and Leicester City have a difficult task if they are to return from the Etihad Stadium with any joy this weekend.
Manchester City have the incentive of moving to within a point of the high-flying Foxes who are currently in second spot, and completing three wins in a week which has seen them turn on the style against Arsenal and surge past spirited Oxford United in the League Cup in midweek will help.
A number of key players who were rested in that game will surely return this weekend for what should be a hugely entertaining clash.
Talking Points
After producing some of their own Premier League highlights, Leicester deserve enormous credit for the season so far.
Without splashing the cash in the manner of some of the more established teams around them have, manager Brendan Rodgers has inherited a good team from harshly criticised Claude Puel and he developed it further.
Indeed, there is no question that their side is going from strength to strength and as the season approaches the halfway stage, they look like a decent bet to seal a Champions League berth next term.
That would be a fitting tribute to former owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha who was tragically killed just over a year ago in a helicopter crash. His son Aiyawatt made a promise to himself that his football club and the city of Leicester will honour the memory of the man the players called The Boss.
The team is certainly doing that and continued in midweek as they pushed all the way by Everton before winning in a penalty shootout to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup.
Compared to this time 12 months ago, Leicester City are 10 places at 17 points and 19 goals better off while playing the type of football the fans wanted to see, leading to Rodgers signing a new long-term contract with the club.
City have not been at their sublime best this term with injuries and a failure to strengthen in central defence the key reasons why.
Their four defeats this season have all come against teams who punished them with pace on the counter-attack, which is something Leicester and Premier League top-scorer Jamie Vardy are perfectly equipped to do.
This though is a game which they will expect to win after recent setbacks against Newcastle and in the Manchester derby which have ended their hopes of joining a rare group of English sides to win three consecutive league titles.
Pep Guardiola’s side have already dropped as many points as they did throughout the whole of last season and know that they cannot afford any more slip-ups .
History
Leicester have upset City before. Last season, they defeated the champions on Boxing Day in a match which, at the time, seem to have caused fatal damage to their title hopes.
However, arguably the most key moment of last season was in the return fixture in May when Vincent Kompany scored a wonder goal to put City on the verge of retaining the championship to which they duly did.
Guardiola’s first ever game against Leicester in 2016 left him and his team with a bloodied nose.
In fact, the then-reigning champions were 4-0 up at one stage as they were inspired by Vardy, before City pulled two goals back in a memorable 4-2 victory for the home side.
That was the first time since 1988 that Leicester had beaten City.
The last time Leicester won at City was famously in 2016, inspired by Riyad Mahrez (now playing for City), as the Foxes famously went on to win the title against the odds.
City have won six of the last seven meetings (two in a penalty shoot-out after League Cup ties ended level). Overall, City have won 59 of their meetings with 30 wins for the Foxes and 29 draws.
Betting Tip
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Manchester City vs Leicester City | First Half Asian Handicap City -0.75 @ 2.25 |
| December 22, 01:30 (GMT+8) |
Last weekend’s win over Arsenal provided City with their only clean sheet in their last 12 outings across all competitions, but they have not kept one in front of their own fans since October while Leicester have scored in each of their last 15 games.
Does that mean we should expect goals galore this time?
If so, how about over 3.50 goals @ 2.14, total goal 2-3 @ 2.21, or 4-6 @ 2.39, compared to 0-1 @ 6.00?
A repeat of last season’s vital match – correct score 1-0 – will pay out @ 2.90.
City are favourites with the SBOBET Premier League betting odds as you would expect and I think they will win.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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|---|---|---|---|
| = €20 (Highly confident) |
 = €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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