Match Preview: Liverpool vs Leicester City

Liverpool vs Leicester City Saturday 10 AM ET on NBCSN

It was the dawn of a new millennium when the Foxes last tasted victory in the league at away to the Reds, a 2-0 win thanks to Tony Cottee and Phil Gilchrist. Since then Liverpool have remained unbeaten at home against Leicester in 8 straight matches. That streak stretches even further when you add the rest of the league into the picture, a staggering 43 unbeaten at home in league competition. It all looks stacked against Leicester before the international break, but streaks are meant to be broken.

Liverpool

The Reds will be on shorter rest when they face the Foxes, but have had the added extra of sleeping in their own beds since their Champions League match against Red Bull Salzburg was their first in the competition this season. They managed to squander cruising 3-1 lead after halftime, but owe many thanks to Mo Salah for saving their der arsch.

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Salah has scored 36 goals at home over the last three seasons. That is over double what Divock Origi has scored in his entire Liverpool career (16)! The trouble is stopping the front three of Sadio Mané, Salah, and Roberto Firmino, and unfortunately there isn’t exactly a playbook for that. Sheffield United got close, but a plucky Georginio Wijnaldum stepped up and got a very lucky goal. A huge task lies ahead if the Foxes are to get one or even three points from this match.

Leicester City

The best news to come out of the week is obviously that James Maddison is healthy. While it seemed like we didn’t need him last week against Newcastle, I think we could have unlocked the Magpies sooner with his help, or lost Madders for a whole season if Isaac Hayden could’ve had his way. I don’t think there is a better time for Leicester to play Liverpool because they have the freedom of knowing that they’re coming off such a solid win, and losing away to Liverpool is just a thing that happens these days.

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I know Hamza Choudhury helped to great effect last time out against Liverpool, but if Brendan Rodgers plays Maddison on the left with Hamza behind him like he did against Manchester United I WILL GO CRAZY. If you watched Liverpool vs Sheffield United you could see that their focus was on attacking Trent Alexander-Arnold. I can’t think of a faster player than Harvey Barnes to do just that. Let him counter over the top and see if Joe Gomez or Joel Matip can keep up. Virgil van Dijk will be in charge of marking Jamie Vardy, so I think our quick wing play could be key to getting a result for the first time in nearly two decades at Anfield.

Prediction

I REALLY like Leicester in my head to win this match, but it will really come down to which Liverpool shows up. If they bank on their luck, I don’t think the Reds will continue their streak, but Leicester will need to finish their chances and be clinical in their decision making defensively. I fancy a 1-1 draw with another Vardy miracle goal.