Leicester City will host Wolverhampton Wanderers at the King Power Stadium tomorrow evening in a must-win game for both relegation-threatened sides.
Following a disastrous home loss to newly promoted Ipswich Town last weekend, Wolves sacked manager Gary O’Neil with the club in 19th place, five points from safety. Vitor Pereira from Saudi Pro League side Al-Shabab has been named as their new manager.
Pereira’s first test is an away trip to 17th place Leicester, and a loss for either side would be a huge blow in their quest to achieve Premier League survival.
Leicester City vs Wolves – Match Details
Date: December 22, 2024.
Time: 14:00 GMT.
Venue: King Power Stadium, Leicester.
Leicester vs Wolves – Team News
Ricardo Pereira, Wilfred Ndidi, and Abdul Fatawu are sidelined due to injuries and will miss the match. Mads Hermansen remains in contention to play and a late fitness test will decide his availability for the fixture. Harry Winks, Jakub Stolarczyk and Boubakary Soumare are available for the match.
The visitors also have a lengthy list of absentees, with Yerson Mosquera, Enso Medina, Sasa Kalajdzic, Rayan Ait-Nouri, and Matheus Cunha set to miss the game. Boubacar Traore, Pablo Sarabia, and Jose Sa could play a part against the Foxes but are doubtful.
Leicester City vs Wolves – Match Preview
An injury-ridden Leicester were thrashed by Newcastle United 4-0 at the Saint James’ Park last weekend. The defeat leaves them just two points above the relegation zone and a loss against Wolves could see the Foxes drop into the bottom three for the first time this season.
Leicester will be wary of any potential ‘new manager bounce’ Wolverhampton may get from their newly appointed manager Pereira. The hosts will hope Wolves’ limited time for preparation will hamper any such boost, especially with Pereira likely to introduce a new formation at Wolves.
Both Midlands sides have been decent in attack, but awful in defence. Leicester have conceded 34 goals from an expected goals against (xGA) of 33.5, while the visitors have leaked in 40 goals from an xGA of 27.2. Pereira’s primary task against LCFC will be to shore up their backline and to avoid a loss at all costs. It is likely that with so little time to prepare, Wolves will play more defensively and allow Leicester to dominate proceedings, aiming to hit the Foxes on the break.
Leicester have the players to make life difficult for Wolves when on the ball, but have to be very wary towards transitions, somethings which they have struggled against. The availability of Soumare, and Winks are big boosts and will make Leicester a lot more solid in the midfield than they were against Newcastle. In this decisive relegation six-pointer, Ruud Van Nistelrooy will aim to continue his own personal managerial record of never losing a home game, and Leicester’s 17 year unbeaten home record against Wolves.
Leicester vs Wolves – Predicted Starting Lineups
Leicester City predicted lineup vs Wolves: Danny Ward, James Justin, Conor Coady, Jannik Vestergaard, Victor Kristiansen; Boubakary Soumare, Harry Winks, Bilal El Khannouss; Facundo Buonanotte, Jamie Vardy, Stephy Mavididi.
Wolves predicted lineup vs Leicester City: Sam Johnstone; Nélson Semedo, Santiago Bueno, Toti Gomes; Matt Doherty, André, Mario Lemina, Rodrigo Gomes; João Gomes, Matheus Cunha, Jørgen Strand Larsen.
