Leicester vs Man City – Match Preview – The quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup sees unbeaten Manchester City face Leicester at the King Power Stadium this Tuesday evening.
After another impressive win at the weekend, City remain 11 points clear of second-placed Manchester United. Two wins against title rivals in the last two weeks has only strengthened City’s grasp on the league, with the Citizens now 1/33 on to claim their third Premier League crown.
In their 4-1 demolition of Spurs, Raheem Sterling grabbed himself another brace. The Englishman is enjoying his best season to date and now has 15 goals in all competitions. With Sterling and Leroy Sane providing pace and width to City’s attack, it has allowed David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne more space to operate centrally. With this in mind, it can be no surprise that both have sparkled this season and will be at the top of the ballot poll when the player of the year award comes around.
For me, De Bruyne will pip Silva to the award. Although it is only December and this may seem a premature statement, I just can’t see anyone catching City, or matching the efforts that these two have put in during the first half of the campaign. Whilst Mohamad Salah has been phenomenal for Liverpool since joining from Roma, I think he will just miss out on the award, should he continue his fine form for the rest of the season.
Leicester have been fantastic since the appointment of Claude Puel. The Frenchman has given the Foxes a new lease of life since taking over, which has seen them shoot up the Premier League table. At the weekend they suffered their worst result in his reign as they went down 3-0 to Crystal Palace. I feel as though this was just a minor blip and I expect them to be right back at it as they face the champions-elect.
Leicester have lost their last two games against Manchester City after losing 2-0 earlier in the campaign. Before then they had gone three games unbeaten as they surged past their then title rivals to the Premier League trophy. Those last five meetings have racked up 15 goals and I expect there to be more again when they meet on Tuesday.
In the league this season, City have scored two or more goals in eight of their nine away games. Leicester have managed the same feat in four of their nine home games, which is the eighth best record in the division. With these stats in mind, I think BTTS and over 2.5 goals would be a safe bet. Whilst I think this will be a tough game for City, and team selection could play a deciding factor, I still think they’ll come away with the win to cement their place in the semi-finals of the competition.
Prediction: Leicester 1-3 Manchester City
SKYBET: CITY TO WIN 3-1- 10/1
SKBET: BTTS AND CITY TO WIN- 7/4
SKYBET: VARDY TO SCORE FIRST AND LEICESTER TO WIN 2-1- 95/1
SKYBET: JESUS TO SCORE AND CITY TO WIN- 11/8
SKYBET: LEICESTER TO WIN IN EXTRA TIME- 33/1
SKYBET: BTTS AND OVER 2.5 GOALS- 11/10