Preview: Leicester City Vs West Bromwich Albion
Leicester City face West Bromwich Albion at the King Power Stadium, needing a win at all costs to get their Premier League campaign back on track. With the Baggies enduring the same fortunes as their opponents, expect a tight encounter at the home of the Foxes.
Leicester City
Five Premier League games without a win, four defeats, two draws and a solitary victory against Brighton and Hove Albion – that’s Leicester’s story in the league so far. As well as ending up second best against the bigger sides, Craig Shakespeare’s side haven’t managed to do much against those outside the top six either, dropping points against Huddersfield Town and AFC Bournemouth as well.
The problem with City is that they tend to play considerably well against the title contenders, though they go missing against the smaller teams, as was the case against Bournemouth a couple weeks back. The fixture list now easing up, they would surely need to change that.
Talking of changes, the East Midlanders could certainly do with a change of system, as the 4-4-2 doesn’t seem to be working anymore. A 3-4-1-2 has worked wonders for a few teams in England so far, so to have a look at it while they can won’t be the worst option.
Man to watch out for
Jamie Vardy has so often provided the spark for Leicester City, and we mustn’t expect any less from the 30-year old on Monday night. With five goals to his name this season already, he’d look to add to his and eventually, his side’s tally.
Quotes
"“I think the school report would say ‘could do better’,” said Craig Shakespeare. “I don’t hide behind that.“We’ve had some real decent performances that have not got the results that they’ve probably merited, but we’ve also had performances where we’ve been fortunate to come away with points at times.“That’s football and that’s life. I think we have a great opportunity against West Brom at King Power Stadium on Monday to try and not only gather three points but to put in a performance too because I see it every day in training.“The hardest thing sometimes is to translate that into the game, but their work and work ethic I’ll never doubt.“I’ve spoken about trying to win the ball back at certain times a bit more, but that’s every coach. Every manager will tell you that they’ll work on little things each week that they can improve on.”"
Possible XI
Schmeichel; Fuchs, Morgan, Maguire, Simpson; Albrighton, Iborra, Ndidi, Gray; Okazaki, Vardy.
West Bromwich Albion
The marquee signing of Grzegorz Krychowiak was supposed to be something of a statement of intent for West Bromwich Albion, but it just hasn’t gone to plan for Tony Pulis’ side so far. The Baggies have failed to win in their last five fixtures just as Leicester City have, though they have four points more than the Foxes.
As far as the Premier League table is concerned, though, West Brom are in a very interesting position despite their poor run of form. A win tomorrow night would have them level on points with Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, with the scope to go higher up the table based on goal difference.
West Bromwich Albion have never lost at the King Power Stadium, and there’s no reason why that should change tomorrow.
Man to watch out for
Grzegorz Krychowiak can control the complete the game from the middle of the park. Everyone is aware of Leicester City’s penchant for “playing” and that’s exactly what the former PSG man is there for – to not let them do that. If he is on song, it’d be very tough for Leicester City.
Quotes
"“On Monday night I’m looking forward to going over there to play in what we know will be a competitive game.“From the times we’ve played them we know they’ve got some top players. On their day they’ve proven they can beat anybody so we need to make sure we’re prepared properly and that we concentrate on what we can do."
Possible XI
Foster; Hegazi, Evans, Dawson, Gibbs; Krychowiak, Barry, Phillips, Rodriguez, Brunt; Rondon.