Leicester City were knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday night by Napoli after losing 3-2. Brendan Rodgers’ team is on a three-match winless streak and have claimed a mere one victory from their last six Premier League matches.
Newcastle United claimed a 1-0 win against Burnley on matchday 15. It was the team’s first win of the 2021-22 season in all competitions. Manager Eddie Howe’s team can move closer to the exit of the relegation zone as just three points separate Newcastle United from Watford.
📸📸— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) December 9, 2021
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If the Magpies want to exit the relegation zone, they will need to win, have the teams ahead of them lose, and overturn a poor goal difference.
Last season, Newcastle United went to the King Power Stadium and won 4-2. The Magpies were up 2-0 at halftime before the game saw four goals in the second period. The away team has won the last three matches between these teams.
Fourteen matches have taken place between Leicester City and Newcastle United in all competitions since 2014. Leicester City posted a record of 9W-1D-3L against Newcastle United over the course of those last 14 meetings.
Rodgers has an illness/coronavirus outbreak at the club. The outbreak hit just before Leicester City left for Naples to play in the Europa League.
Seven players are likely to be out of action this weekend due to illness including Jannik Vestergaard, Ayoze Perez, Ademola Lookman, Kelechi Iheanacho, Daniel Amartey, Vontae Daley-Campbell, and Filip Benkovic.
Adding to Rodgers’ headaches are the long-term absences of James Justin, Wesley Fofana, and Ricardo Pereira. Rodgers did get Youri Tielemans back from injury in midweek.
Howe has two players suffering from injuries that will miss the game on Sunday. Ryan Fraser and Paul Dummett are both ruled out of the game.
Leicester City have been poor at home this season with just 10 points from 21 possible taken at the King Power Stadium. Newcastle United have taken a league low three points from 21 available on the road in 2021-22.
This is a match pitting two of the Premier League’s worst defences. The Magpies have conceded the second-most goals with 30, while Leicester City have allowed the fourth-most with 27. Newcastle United may have won last weekend, but that brief uptick in form should come to an end.
Leicester City have a strong head-to-head record against the Magpies and they should claim a 10th win in 15 matches versus Newcastle United. Both teams should score and over 2.5 goals will be collected by the rivals.