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Location: King Power Stadium, Leicestershire, England
Kick-off time: 3:00 PM GMT, 10:00 AM Eastern, 07:00 AM Pacific
It was an exciting week for Leicester City with the Champions League draw, but the Foxes get back to business in the Premier League on Saturday when they host Swansea City in their second consecutive home match.
The group stage draw was great. Superb, actually. But we’ll return to the Champions League when it comes. For now, the Foxes have a title to defend and it hasn’t been the best of starts. An opening day loss away to Hull City and a scoreless draw with Arsenal gives the Foxes a single point from their opening two games. Not really what you need.
A point last Saturday for both teams was probably a fair result as a potent Arsenal attack was stifled by a Leicester defensive line that was much improved from their opening fixture thanks to the return of big man Robert Huth in the middle. Nempalys Mendy was subbed off in the 53rd minute due to injury, and along with Jeffrey Schlupp, won’t be available until at least after the international break. That means we’re back to that midfield defensive dilemma we felt following the loss to Hull, and either Andy King or Daniel Amartey will need to slot in beside newly-re-signed Danny Drinkwater.
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The Foxes were full value against Swansea last season by winning 4-0 at the King Power and 3-0 at the Liberty Stadium. So if there’s one fixture the Foxes can feel a bit more confident in, it’s this one. But the Swans aren’t the same team as last year, same goes with Leicester, and Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez need to kick-start the offense that tore apart the Premier League last season or we could really see things start to slip for the Foxes.
Swansea were also recipients of the Hull bug last week in a 2-0 defeat, so both sides will be looking to shake off a loss to relegation favorites on Saturday. Fernando Llorente looks to be a solid signing up front for the Swans from Europa League champions Sevilla who could help reverse their fortunes against Leicester.
Fellow forward signing Borja Baston is nursing a muscular injury and could be out for this weekend’s clash, but youngster Oliver McBurnie will be travelling to the King Power after scoring a brace in Swansea’s 3-1 win over Peterborough United in the League Cup on Tuesday.
It’s a big one for the confidence of Leicester, who could really use a win to get back on track and boost morale in the locker room and in terraces of the King Power.