AEK Athens vs Leicester: match preview, form, predicted result

Leicester City continue their Europa League campaign as they travel to Greece to face AEK Athens on Thursday evening looking to secure another win.

The Foxes started their Group G campaign with a convincing win against Zorya Luhansk, while their next opponents suffered a crumbling defeat away at Braga.

Leicester’s season has ben very stop and start with victories over Manchester City and Arsenal whilst featuring defeats to West Ham United and Aston Villa. Add injuries into the equation and it certainly could have been better. However, Brendan Rodgers side lie fourth in the table so it’s safe to assume that domestic progression is the priority this season. Nevertheless, the Europa League will be by no means a waste of time.

Despite only claiming third place in the Greek Superliga in the past two seasons, AEK Athens would have been optimistic about having a prolonged run in this competition when they discovered their opponents for the group stages.

The Braga defeat would have definitely halted that optimism, and head coach Massimo Carrera will be concerned about the development of his side since their famous win over Wolfsburg in the final qualifying round. However, the Italian is up-beat going into this game: highlighting it as a key match in deciding the fate of this group.

Nevertheless, AEK have been poor of late, with only one victory in their last four matches beating PAS Giannina 1-0 on Sunday. Foxes of Leicester believes this game is winnable for the Foxes.

For Leicester, Rodgers could take the opportunity to hand a first start to winger Cengiz Under. The Turkey international provided the assist for Jamie Vardy’s winner at the Emirates Stadium in their previous outing.

Vardy probably won’t be risked as he just come back from injury, but expect to see the striker to be used if the Foxes are trailing with only half an hour left as the Leicester legend has travelled with the side. Naturally rotation will be used so expect to see Ayoze Perez, Hamza Choudhury, Kelechi Iheanacho and Wes Morgan given starting births.

Leicester City, AEK form

‘W’ equals a win, ‘L’ is a loss, and ‘D’ means a draw:

Leicester City Europa League form: W

Leicester City form (all competitions): LWLLWW

AEK Athens Europa League form: WWL

AEK Athens form (all competitions): WWLDLW

Predicted Leicester Line up: Kasper Schmeichel; James Justin, Morgan, Wesley Fofana, Christian Fuchs; Choudhury, Dennis Praet, Marc Albrighton; Perez, Cengiz Under, Iheanacho.