Leicester welcome Newcastle to the King Power on Monday Night. Inform Newcastle take on a home side who look set for relegation.
BET BUILDER FOR THE GAME:
Isak over 2+ shots , barnes 1+ shots , Newcastle to win @ 1.80
Can Newcastle continue their Champions League charge? On Wednesday night, the Magpies beat Brentford 2-1 on Tyneside with Alexander Isak, who else, breaking the deadlock, before Sandro Tonali scored a spectacular winner. That’s now back-to-back Premier League wins for Eddie Howe’s side, who’ve actually won ten of 14 league outings since mid-December.
Leicester’s relegation to the Championship is almost certain at this point. They lost to Manchester City on Wednesday, which makes it eight straight losses in all competitions for the Foxes. Ruud Van Nistelrooy is seemingly out of ideas and it doesn’t look like things will get better in the next two months
Newcastle are flying high after winning the Carabao Cup and beating Brentford 2-1 on Wednesday. Prior to Gameweek 31, the Magpies sat in sixth place with a game in hand over the rest of the teams battling for Champions League football. They only trail Chelsea by two points and Manchester City by one point, so getting three points in this spot is a must for Eddie Howe’s side.
Leicester are in a predicament. They’re staring relegation in the face and can’t sit back in their low block for too much longer. Theoretically, they need points, so there’s a chance they’re more aggressive out of possession in this match.
Unfortunately, that would play right into how Newcastle want to operate because they’re much better when playing direct than building out of the back. When Leicester have tried to press this season, it hasn’t been successful, so Newcastle should have tons of chances in this match.
Newcastle’s attack is reliant on Isak in attack, as he’s bagged 24 goals this season and has a 0.69 xG per-90 minute scoring rate.
Leicester’s offense is a complete embarrassment right now.
Relying on a 37-year-old Vardy may not be the best thing for the Foxes or any team trying to stay in the Premier League. Over their last 10 Premier League matches, Leicester have only scored against Tottenham.
Going further, in their last 15 matches they’ve only scored four goals and have been shutout in 12 of them. Despite falling behind 2-0 inside the first 30 minutes against Manchester City, they only mustered two shots for the entire match Wednesday.
In the previous meeting against Newcastle, they failed to score and only ended up creating 0.2 expected goals.
I like the value on Leicester not to score in this match at +137.
Leicester’s seemingly inevitable relegation to the Championship cannot be confirmed this weekend – unlike basement side Southampton – but it appears to be just a matter of time before they are condemned to a swift second-tier return, especially if the form book is anything to go by.
The hosts’ midweek loss at the Etihad marked an embarrassing eighth defeat in a row in all competitions – during which Van Nistelrooy’s men have only found the back of the net once – and another unwanted English football record could be theirs on Monday night.
Indeed, Leicester are at risk of becoming the first side in English Football League history to lost eight consecutive league games at home without scoring; if that was not enough, the Foxes could also lose 11 home games in a single season for the first time in their history.
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Hermansen; Thomas, Faes, Okoli; Justin, Ndidi, Soumare, Kristiansen; El Khannouss, Ayew; Vardy
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Pope; Krafth, Schar, Burn, Livramento; Guimaraes, Tonali, Willock; Murphy, Wilson, Barnes
Newcastle may not be able to deploy their most fearsome attack at the King Power Stadium, but the EFL Cup winners still have our vote to condemn Leicester to that familiar sinking feeling.
As lethal as Van Nistelrooy was in his playing days, his current side are anything but, and the Foxes will likely have made unwanted English football history by the full-time whistle.
