Leicester City welcome Fulham to the King Power Stadium on Monday as they aim to return to winning ways in the Premier League.
The Foxes lost to Liverpool last weekend but secured qualification through to the Europa League knockout stages after an entertaining 3-3 draw with Braga on Thursday.
Brendan Rodgers’ side will be hoping to continue some momentum from that achievement and beat Scott Parker’s struggling Fulham.
Fulham
The Cottagers have struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League after promotion from the Championship last season.
Parker’s side have only won one game so far, with the victory coming against fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion. Fulham have managed to score relatively regularly but when it comes to defending, the team have built a reputation of being one of the poorest in the league.
They could have been in a much more comfortable position in the league if it weren’t for their extremely poor penalty record. Aleksandar Mitrovic, Ademola Lookman, and Ivan Cavaleiro have all missed penalties this season.
Bobby Reid led the line for the Cottagers against Everton and managed to get himself a goal, however, Mitrovic may be preferred to start upfront to provide a more physical presence, with Reid moving out wide. The Serbian striker did come on in their last game but missed a penalty during his time on the pitch.
Fulham have played a pretty consistent 4-2-3-1 formation this season and are expected to line up this way again at the King Power Stadium. If Mitrovic is to start, he will more than likely have Tom Cairney, Lookman, and Reid behind him.
Parker’s side have been hit by injuries throughout the season but have the majority of their squad available to them for Monday’s game. Only Josh Onomah will miss out as he continues his recovery.
Predicted Line-Up:
Areola; Robinson, Adarabioyo, Andersen, Aina; Lemina, Loftus-Cheek; Lookman, Cairney, Reid, Mitrovic.
Leicester City
Leicester have begun to look comfortable in a three at the back formation and it is now the regular system that Rodgers sets his team up in.
After injuries to Ricardo Pereira, Timothy Castagne, Caglar Soyuncu, and Jonny Evans, the Foxes were forced to try and compensate for their losses and solidify the defence. This gave them the chance to switch to a 3-4-2-1 formation and it has worked out for them.
They made changes in midweek in Portugal, meaning that key players received some rest ahead of Monday’s game.
Kasper Schmeichel, as always, will take his place in goal with an expected back three of Wesley Fofana, Evans, and Christian Fuchs. Fuchs has become a makeshift centre-back and he has impressed in his new role, however, when Soyuncu returns he will likely drop back to the bench.
James Justin will play in either wing-back position depending on whether Rodgers selects Marc Albrighton or Luke Thomas to play out wide.
Youri Tielemans and Nampalys Mendy have built a superb relationship in the middle of the park and the partnership will be back together for this game after both started on the bench on Thursday.
Harvey Barnes grabbed himself another European goal in the week and will more than likely start on the left with James Maddison playing a more narrow role in behind top scorer Jamie Vardy who scored a last gasp equaliser to send Leicester through against Braga.
Predicted Line-Up:
Schmeichel, Fofana, Evans, Fuchs, Justin, Tielemans, Mendy, Thomas, Maddison, Barnes, Vardy.
Prediction
Leicester should have too much for Fulham in this game. The Foxes are hoping to be in the title race this season so winning against teams who will be battling against relegation is a must.
The firepower of Barnes, Maddison, and Vardy coming up against the poor visiting defence should be a recipe for disaster for Parker’s side. Although, the Cottagers will pose some threat on the break and the Foxes will need to stay concentrated at the back.
Leicester will likely dominate possession and look to break down the Fulham defence. If they can do this early on then they may become rampant and claim a huge victory, however, the longer they go without scoring it will play into the visitor's hands and they could head home with a surprise point.