On Saturday afternoon, Leicester City will face Bristol City with the goal of maintaining their position in the top two in the Championship standings.
The Foxes are the favorites to win at King Power Stadium, but the visitors, who are currently in seventh place, have only lost once in the league in 2023–24.
Game preview
Before the international break, there was a sense that Leicester were not operating at full capacity under Enzo Maresca because they had failed to score more than twice in a Championship game.
That argument is particularly strengthened by the fact that the East Midlands team lost to Hull City in their previous contest. However, Leicester has responded with two incredibly good away wins, one at Southampton and the other at Norwich City.
The 4-1 victory over the Saints was brutal, but the Foxes had to display tenacity to defeat Norwich with a late penalty and second-half goal.
Despite Norwich coming near to a leveler multiple times, luck was also on their side for Maresca’s team, who now sit in second place with 18 points from seven games.
One encouraging note for the Saturday visitors is that Leicester is yet to record their maiden league shutout at the King Power Stadium in 2023–2024.
Bristol City’s start to the season has mostly gone unnoticed as other teams in their area have been taking center stage.
Supporters of Nigel Pearson’s team will be feeling more positive about their campaign as they have three victories, three draws, and just one loss — at home to Birmingham City on August 19.
The Robins bounced back after being held to a scoreless draw by West Bromwich Albion at the weekend by crushing Plymouth Argyle 4-1 three days later.
Just nine goals have been scored in seven games overall, but the consistent accumulation of points has put Bristol City in a position where they can close the gap on Leicester, one of Pearson’s old teams, to three points.
Ricardo Pereira, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and Jamie Vardy were all moved to the bench of substitutes as Maresca changed the starting eleven for Leicester’s trip to Carrow Road.
However, Hamza Choudhury, Cesare Casadei, and Kelechi Iheanacho might not start the game on Saturday, meaning all three might come back.
Conor Coady has made a welcome comeback from a foot injury to the bench, but he will have to wait to make his starting debut.
Pearson might be willing to start the same Bristol City starting XI for this match after using all of his substitutes by the 71st minute during the last match.
Taylor Gardner-Hickman might start at right-back or central midfield if a change is made, but it’s unlikely that his goal against Plymouth will give him a chance right away.
Ndidi, Winks, Dewsbury-Hall, Pereira, Faes, Vestergaard, Doyle, McAteer, Vardy, and Mavididi are all potential starters for Leicester City.
Starting lineup options for Bristol City include O’Leary, Tanner, Vyner, Naismith, Pring, James, Williams, Sykes, Knight, and Wells.
Our prediction is Leicester City 2-1 Bristol City.
Leicester won’t take anything for granted against an impressive Robins team after previously being defeated at home by Hull. However, the Foxes seem to be getting better under Maresca, and we are betting on the championship favorites to put in a professional display and win.
