Jamie Vardy has been a consistent performer for Leicester (Getty Images)
When the Champions League returns in October, Leicester will feel more than a pang of envy. Manchester United will line out among Europe’s elite. The same United that was 14 points behind Leicester at the turn of the year. A combination of a dreadful collapse and an unforeseeable purple patch set up a sort of play-off between Leicester and United on the final day of the season. And Leicester lost.
While that result came at the King Power Stadium, it was primarily an inability to get results away from home that stopped Leicester’s Champions League run in its track. Brendan Rodgers will be chewing on this when they compete in the Europa League. And he’ll be chewing on it when they visit the Etihad on Sunday.
If Leicester are to break the top four this season, they will need to get results on the road. They can’t have a repeat of last season when they lost away to every team in the top four. (Bookmakers like Bet365 currently price Leicester at 7.00 to break into the big quartet this season.)
Leicester fans will tell you that the problem is not restricted to away games against the top four. They could lose all of those matches and still comfortably secure a Champions League place if they were otherwise competent on the road. Yet Leicester would have finished eighth in the table if it was based solely on away form. Before the recent 3-0 win against West Brom at the Hawthorns, Leicester had failed to win their previous eight matches on their travels.
The unique circumstances of the campaign played a big part in Leicester’s decline. They only won two of their nine fixtures after Project Restart. However, the cracks were beginning to show before then with the Foxes failing to win nine of their 13 league fixtures before the lockdown.
That was then, this is now. Lessons have been learned and two victories from two suggest that another fall will not occur if similar heights are scaled. Key players like James Maddison and Ricardo Perreira watched that final day defeat from the sideline.
It exposed the lack of sufficient depth in the Leicester squad, a deficiency that Rodgers has tried to correct with the arrival of Cengiz Under among others. Lined up against City, it pales in comparison, as most clubs’ depth will. Leicester don’t have the resources of City and thus have to be canny with their player sales.
Ben Chilwell was the latest talent sold off for an extortionate sum, a £50 million deal sending him to Chelsea. They need to outwit and outfight City but that’s never proven easy.
City have won their last four home matches against Leicester. They have won the last three meetings with the Foxes. Missing key defensive players, City’s backline could be breached by the pace of Jamie Vardy and the vision of Maddison.
The odds are understandably long on Leicester getting the win. Bet365 price the visitors at 9.50 to get the win, while City are heavy favourites at 1.28. The short price isn’t surprising as City have won 10 of their last 11 home matches in the league. Yet they’re not unbeatable at the Etihad.
They lost twice there last season and dropped a further four points in draws. Anyone looking to place a wager on the game should use the Bet365 promo code suggested by Wincomparator. It entitles new users up to £100 in bet credits. That’s good value. Whether Leicester can beat City this weekend is another matter altogether. The Foxes will go some way to conditioning expectations at the Etihad.