Manchester City vs Leicester predictions: Foxes unlikely to lay a glove on champions
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- Man City are in scrap to finish in Champions League places
- Leicester’s dismal time under Ruud van Nistelrooy looks set to continue
- Recommended bet: Manchester City to win to nil
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are not guaranteed a place in next season’s Champions League, but they should have few problems in boosting their top-four credentials against Leicester, who look destined to fall back into the Championship.
The Foxes head to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday having lost eight of their last nine away league games with little prospect of closing the nine-point gap that separates them from salvation.
Team news
The Citizens are likely to head into battle without star striker Erling Haaland, who limped out of Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final victory over Bournemouth with a knee injury.
Rodri, Manuel Akanji, John Stones and Nathan Ake are also missing and the game looks likely to come too early for another long-term casualty, Oscar Bobb.
Leicester full-back Ricardo Pereira could be involved but Abdul Fatawu and Harry Souttar are both missing for the struggling Foxes.
The stats
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Leicester have not kept a clean sheet in their last 22 matches.
The Foxes have lost 13 of their last 14 league games.
Four of the Citizens’ last five league wins have featured more than three goals.
Leicester have failed to score in eight of their last nine defeats.
Guardiola’s troops have scored at least twice in eight of their last nine games at the Etihad.
Prediction
Man City have had an underwhelming season after winning the last four Premier League titles but even with that disappointment in mind, it would be a big surprise if Leicester got anything from their trip to Manchester.
The Foxes, who won the Championship last season, have endured a miserable few months since Ruud van Nistelrooy replaced Steve Cooper at the King Power Stadium and they look doomed to an immediate return to the second tier.
Eight of their last nine away matches have ended in defeat and Leicester have failed to score in their three most recent away losses to Everton, West Ham and Chelsea.
And while their opponents are likely to be without striker Haaland and be forced to field a makeshift back four due to a series of injury issues, there is still little faith to be had in the visitors notching.
They have a nine-point gap to make up to earn a reprieve from relegation and this looks set to be another away defeat in which the strugglers fail to score.
Omar Marmoush could relish the opportunity to prove himself in Haaland’s absence after making a strong impression following a January move from Eintracht Frankfurt, so he can spearhead Guardiola’s boys to victory as they maintain a clean sheet.
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