Leicester will welcome Fulham to the King Power Stadium this Tuesday, with both sides looking for maximum points in their first Premier League fixture of the year.
Venue: King Power Stadium (Leicester)
Key Statistics
Leicester City have lost their last two league games without scoring.
They have won nine of their last 14 league games to open a calendar year (D4, L1).
The Foxes have the fourth-worst defence in the league, having conceded 30 league goals.
Fulham have kept three clean sheets in their last nine league games.
The Cottagers have scored in all but two of their PL games this term.
They have won four of their last eight league matches (D2, L2).
The visitors have won just one of their last 23 PL away games in January (D6, L16).
Head to head
In eight Premier League meetings between both sides, Fulham have three wins, while Leicester City have two wins.
Latest performances in all competitions
Leicester City: L-L-W-D-W
Fulham: W-W-D-L-L
Leicester City
After a turbulent 2022, Leicester City will look to begin 2023 on a winning note as they welcome Fulham to King Power Stadium.
The previous year was certainly a year to forget for Brendan Rodgers’ men, who went from the heights of competing in Europe to being in a relegation fight thanks to a run of poor results.
Their last result of 2022 was a terrible 2-1 loss to Liverpool. In an end-to-end game at Anfield, the Foxes took the lead in the fourth minute through Kieran Dewsbury-Halls, but two unfortunate own goals by Leicester City’s Wout Faes turned the tie around in favour of Jurgen Klopp’s men.
In scoring two against his own side, Faes became just the fourth player in Premier League (PL) history to score two own goals in the same game. But beyond his errors, Leicester will look to dust themselves back up and go again.
With this game being their first of the year, they may fancy their chances of lengthening their cushion to the drop zone, having won nine of their last 14 league games to open a calendar year (D4, L1).
However, successive home league defeats ‘to nil’ coming into this match threatens to worsen that record, though, with Leicester now on the verge of losing three top-flight home games in a row without scoring for the first time since 1983.
Possible Leicester City starting line-up
Danny Ward; Timothy Castagne, Daniel Amartey, Wout Faes, Luke Thomas; Boubakary Soumaré, Keiran Dewsbury-Halls, Youri Tielemans, Wilfred Ndidi; Harvey Barnes, Patson Daka.
Injured: Patson Daka, Jonny Evans, Ricardo Pereira, James Justin, Ryan Bertrand, Denis Praet, James Madison
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Fulham
Fulham, unlike their hosts, enjoyed the previous year as they moved from the Championship to top-flight football last year while enjoying their return to Premier League football.
The visitors ended 2022 sat in the top half of the league table after recording seven wins from their opening 1u games (D4, L6).
Their latest win came in a 2-1 victory against struggling Southampton on Saturday, meaning that the Cottagers come into this clash eight points better off than their hosts after winning four of their last eight league matches (D2, L2).
Goals certainly aren’t a problem for Fulham, who have scored in all but two of their PL games this term, while their strength at the back has also played a massive role in their impressive league placement.
However, things might be more complex here, given that Fulham won just one of their last 23 PL away games in January (D6, L16). But they did open their 2022 away league campaign with a 7-0 win, albeit in the Championship against Reading.
Possible Fulham starting line-up
Bernd Leno; Bobby Reid, Issa Diop, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson; João Palhinha, Harrison Reed; Harry Wilson Andreas Pereira, Willian; Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Injured: Manor Solomon, Neeskens Kebano.
Doubtful: Layvin Kurzawa
Suspended: None
Odds
Prediction
Leicester City 2-1 Fulham