Leicester City have a golden opportunity to go top of the Premier League table today as they prepare to host Everton at the King Power Stadium. Closest title rivals Tottenham and Liverpool are set to lock horns this evening in what promises to be a thrilling fixture.
If neither side can find a way to bank the win and the Foxes beat the Toffees, they will leapfrog both clubs and settle nicely at the top with a one-point lead.
All eyes will be on this possibility and Brendan Rodgers will want to hit Everton where it hurts. Here’s how Football FanCast has predicted Leicester to line up against Carlo Ancelotti’s side…
With Jonny Evans set to miss the match due to a yellow card suspension, Rodgers may be forced to drop his three-at-the-back staple. He did deploy a standard 4-3-3 on several occasions however, with the last time being against Zorya Luhansk in the Europa League.
If he reverts to this set-up, captain Wes Morgan could make a return to the starting lineup, with Christian Fuchs shifting along into his natural left-back position.
Both Youri Tielemans and Wilfred Ndidi are all but nailed on to start and they will play a deeper lying midfield role in this change in formation. This will allow maximum creativity behind Jamie Vardy – Rodgers should be looking to pile heavy pressure onto the Everton backline and could start all of Harvey Barnes, James Maddison and Cengiz Under together.
Maddison has been in fine form this season, he scored two of Leicester’s three goals against Brighton last time out. However, the same can’t be said for Ayoze Perez, who has been rather inconsistent this season.
Putting Under and Barnes either side of the England international could cause serious problems for Everton, who will want to build on their shock 1-0 win over Chelsea. If the Foxes can hit them on the counter-attack, then the four attacking options could seriously hurt Ancelotti.
The £94,000 per week summer loan signing has made just five starts out of a possible 13 so far and is yet to start in the Premier League (via Transfermarkt). Tonight could the winger’s time to shine.
In other news, Luke Thomas did Rodgers proud in match vs Athens…
The post Predicted Leicester XI vs Everton – preview, team and injury news first appeared on FootballFanCast.com.
