Leicester City will be hoping for a repeat of the thrashing they handed out to Braga three weeks ago when the two sides clash in Portugal on Thursday.
The Foxes crushed Carlos Carvalhal’s side 4-0 in the reverse fixture to put themselves top of Europa League Group G – three points ahead of second-place Braga.
Tight at the top of the #PL 📊Looking for an improvement 🔎A job to be done in the #UEL Plenty to discuss ahead of #BrgLei 👇— Leicester City (@LCFC) November 25, 2020
Tight at the top of the #PL 📊Looking for an improvement 🔎A job to be done in the #UEL Plenty to discuss ahead of #BrgLei 👇
Braga kicked off their Europa League campaign with back-to-back victories over AEK Athens and Zorya Luhansk, but their winning run was brought to an end in abrupt fashion by Leicester.
The Portuguese side actually edged the possession at the King Power Stadium, yet a double from Kelechi Iheanacho, along with goals from Dennis Praet and James Maddison, did the damage.
However, Braga head into Thursday’s clash on a five-game winning streak in the Primeira Liga, which has left them second in Portugal’s top-flight.
After losing their opening two domestic matches this term, Carvahal’s men have turned things around – most recently claiming an impressive 3-2 away victory over Benfica.
Looking at the bigger picture, Braga have won eight of their previous nine games in all competitions. Their only defeat during that period came against Leicester.
Leicester were also on an impressive winning streak of their own before meeting Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday.
The Foxes had won six straight games in all competitions, yet Jurgen Klopp’s side claimed a comfortable 3-0 victory at Anfield last time out.
Still, Leicester remain fourth in the Premier League table – two points behind frontrunners Tottenham Hotspur.
Brendan Rodger’s side have excelled in Europe this season. Not only have they won all three of their Europa League games, they have also scored nine goals while conceding just once.
The Foxes can all but secure their place in the Round of 32 with a win on Thursday, although Braga could move level with them at the top of Group G.
Head-to-head: The only previous meeting between these two sides came three weeks ago, with Leicester thrashing Braga 4-0 in England.
Team news: Braga will be without long-term absentee Rui Fonte, while left-back Francisco Moura is also expected to miss the game through injury.
Leicester are still without Ricardo Pereira and Daniel Amartey, while Wilfred Ndidi, Timothy Castagne and Caglar Soyuncu are all nearing a return from injury.
Nine of Braga’s previous ten Europa League games have produced over 2.5 goals, while each of Leicester’s last three European outings have seen three or more goals scored.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that we will see over 2.5 goals on Thursday. However, Braga are expected to extend their winning streak and claim the victory this time around.