IT’S a baptism of fire for new Leicester manager Dean Smith on Saturday as his relegation-threatened side head to champions Manchester City.
Manchester City vs Leicester odds
Here are the latest match odds for Manchester City vs Leicester.
Manchester City vs Leicester betting preview
Dean Smith arrived at Leicester this week in his ‘Red Adair’ role – and it’s some fight he’s got on his hands.
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The Foxes have ground to make up in what is one of the closest relegation fights for years; they head into this contest two points from safety with just eight games remaining.
Given their situation, a trip to the Etihad is the last thing Leicester need right now, although those looking for positives will suggest that Leicester are capable of scoring goals, having managed two at Arsenal, Spurs, Villa and Brighton this season.
The problem is they’ve conceded 17 across those four matches (and another three at Manchester United) so they clearly have an issue keeping the better sides out.
And you don’t need telling that City have the tools to take advantage of any defensive lapses.
The good news for the visitors is that City’s packed fixture list means Pep Guardiola will surely be looking to rotate his players here with this game sandwiched between two matches against Bayern Munich.
Erling Haaland, only just back from a groin problem, may well get rested but then again all City will do there is bring in a World Cup winner in Julian Alvarez, whose scoring record in both Argentina and England has been excellent.
With the Citizens still looking to emulate their cross-city rivals’ Treble achievement of 24 years ago, a few other changes can be expected, but such is City’s squad these days that it probably won’t give Leicester much respite.
Yes, Leicester did win here 5-2 not so long ago, but the Foxes have fallen a long way since then, and it’s hard to see how they will get anything out of this game.
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Manchester City vs Leicester key stats
- Following his midweek goal against Bayern Munich, Erling Haaland has now scored 45 goals in all competition for City this season. He also tops the Premier League goalscoring charts.
- Over 2.5 goals have landed in 66% of Man City’s games this season – only Arsenal’s matches have landed that bet more often.
- Leicester are one of only two sides to have won more points away (13) than they have at home (12) in this season’s Premier League. The other is Southampton.
- Only Bournemouth and Forest have conceded more away goals than Leicester’s 32.
- Every Premier League game at the Etihad this season has produced a first-half goal, while 11 of the 14 have seen at least two before the interval.
Manchester City vs Leicester best bets
Manchester City to win and both teams to score
Seven of City’s 12 home wins have come via this method and a few team changes can be expected here.
For all Leicester’s problems, they’ve managed to score 23 away goals – a figure bettered by only five teams in the league – so they should offer a threat going forward, something they will be particularly keen to do given the new man in the dugout.
They’ve already lost while scoring at Arsenal (2-4), Spurs (2-6), Brighton (2-5) and Liverpool (1-2) and can repeat the trick at the Etihad.
Julian Alvarez to score at any time
With a trip to Bayern Munich looming and Erling Haaland only just back from injury, this looks like a game in which Julian Alvarez could start.
With Halaand scoring for fun, it’s easy to forget just what a good replacement City have and Alvarez should not be underestimated.
bet365 may have done so though, offering 5/6 about him netting against a defence which has shipped 32 goals in 15 away games.
The Argentine World Cup winner has scored in 10 of his 17 starts for City and if he does here, he probably should be shorter than 5/6 to find the net.
Rodri over 1 shot
City’s Spanish midfielder has managed at least two shots in 11 of his last 15 games for club and country and 4/5 about him doing so again looks good.
City are hosting a team with one of the worst defensive records, both in terms of goals and shots conceded – they are the fourth worst in the most relevant, latter metric.
There’s a chance he gets rested for this one but Pep Guardiola has previously described Rodri as one of City’s most important players so expect him to start and deliver on this bet.
How to watch Manchester City vs Leicester
The Etihad Stadium clash is being televised live in the UK by Sky Sports on its Main Event and Premier League channels. The match kicks off at 1730 BST on Saturday, April 15.
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