Liverpool has looked great going forward this season, but they have been shaky at the back. They have made an addition there, but their new defender won’t be eligible to play on Saturday when they host Leicester City, who have their own transfer worries to deal with.
What To Know About Leicester City
Leicester sits eighth in the English Premier League table after a 2-1 loss at Watford as keeper Kasper Schmeichel scored an own goal to cancel out Riyah Mahrez’s goal. Mahrez is now second to Jamie Vardy in goals for Leicester with six, and his five assists is tied for the team lead. However, Leicester almost lost Mahrez during the summer and Arsenal looks to be hot on his heels as the transfer window is going to open again on January 1st. Mahrez is Leicester’s most creative player and they might look to cash in on him now, but if they do that, they risk taking a terrible nosedive this season and their fans won’t be happy with that. To his credit, Mahrez has kept his mouth shut and his head down during all of this, continuing to give his best for Leicester and that is why the fans aren’t upset with him wanting to leave.
What To Know About Liverpool
Liverpool looked unstoppable in a 5-0 rout of Swansea City at home as Roberto Firmino scored a pair, along with Philippe Coutinho, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Liverpool is now fourth in the table, but you get the feeling they should be higher and they probably should, if not for season-long poor defending. They hope to fix that with the purchase of Virgil van Dijk from Southampton for just over $100 million, which is the world record for a defender. He won’t be eligible to play until the transfer window reopens, so he’ll miss this game, but if van Dijk can step right in and take charge of Liverpool’s back four, second place is definitely an option for them as Liverpool is only five points behind Manchester United (everyone else is basically playing for second as Manchester City is running away with the league, barring a lot of injuries).
Outlook
Liverpool are favored at home at -350 in this meeting, while Leicester comes in at +900 and a draw is rated at +450. Liverpool and Leicester have split their last six meetings, including a pair this season as Leicester eliminated Liverpool from the EFL Cup with a 2-0 win, but Liverpool won 3-2 at Leicester just four days later in the league. Leicester last won at Liverpool in May 2000, so it might be asking a lot to get all three points away from home. Liverpool’s attack is looking incredible with Firmino, Coutinho and Mohamed Salah, who is second in the league with 15 goals behind Tottenham’s Harry Kane. Leicester is going to be hard-pressed to keep them off the scoresheet, but at the same time, they can nick a goal against Liverpool’s defense. That means they need Mahrez and Vardy to be at their best, and they’ll be a good test for Liverpool’s defense, although it could just make their purchase of van Dijk look that much better.
Get the latest football betting lines on all of the English Premier League for this weekend at Play Shangrila!
