Manchester City host Leicester City on Monday night with the opportunity to take one step closer to the league title.
The Cityzens will kick off 48-hours after rivals Liverpool play Newcastle at St. James’ Park. Depending on Liverpool’s result against Newcastle, Manchester City could claim the title with a win over Leicester City.
Brendan Rodgers’ team goes into the fixture in fine form. The Foxes are undefeated in five of their last six games with four of those matches ending in wins. Leicester City are coming off of an impressive 3-0 win over Arsenal at the King Power Stadium.
Can Leicester City take points off of Manchester City? If it happens, it won’t be the first time as Leicester City won earlier this season at the King Power Stadium, 2-1. Ricardo Pereira’s 81st minute goal gave Leicester City all three points.
Pep Guardiola has two major injury concerns going into Monday night. Defensive midfielder Fernandinho is still out with a knee injury and will be replaced by Ilkay Gundogan in the heart of the team. Guardiola has paired Gundogan with Bernardo Silva since Fernandinho’s injury.
Kevin De Bruyne will also miss the fixture due to a hamstring issue. The Belgian will most likely miss the rest of the season.
Rodgers doesn’t have the same injury worries as Guardiola and will have his star players fit to fire. Striker Jamie Vardy is a player re-born under Rodgers. Vardy has scored 10 goals since Rodgers took over in February. Fifty-five percent of Vardy’s scores have occurred in his last nine matches.
Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero won’t back down from Leicester City’s challenge. The Argentine is fighting for the Premier League Golden Boot award. Aguero goes into the weekend one goal behind Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah on 20 goals.
The Cityzens have won four of their last six games against Leicester City in all competitions. Leicester City have been outscored 12-6 during that time.
Despite a poor record in their last six games, Leicester City are unbeaten in their last two matches in all competition against the Cityzens. The two sides have played twice already this term with Leicester City winning in the league and earning a 1-1 draw in the Carabao Cup.
Like their previous meeting this season, Monday night’s game should see over 2.5 goals scored. There have been over 2.5 goals scored in nine of Leicester's last 11 league games.
Although Leicester City have played well in their previous two games against Manchester City, the title is within in sight and the Cityzens can take a big step toward retaining it.
Manchester City will pick up a vital three points while over 2.5 goals fly into the back of the net. It should be a thrilling affair at the Etihad Stadium.