Last updated & checked: 10/08/2021
With seven Premier League matches and seven wins to their name, the question of who can stop Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool has started to be asked. With Arsenal and Chelsea among their victims so far, the next manager to step up and give it a go is someone familiar to Reds fans: Klopp’s predecessor Brendan Rodgers, who returns to Merseyside for the first time since his sacking almost exactly four years ago.
Leicester may be the biggest challenge the Reds have yet faced domestically this season. The Foxes sit third in the Premier League and come into this game still purring after a 5-0 thrashing of Newcastle. They achieved that result in the absence of James Maddison, whose ankle injury may also keep him out of the line-up here. Belgian international Dennis Praet, who looked impressive in Maddison’s absence, may deputise again here.
Liverpool vs Leicester City Prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Leicester City
It’s a quickish turnaround for the Reds, who eventually triumphed 4-3 over RV Salzburg in a Wednesday night match which saw them go from 3-0 up to 3-3. The intensity of that match could play into Leicester’s hands – they’ve had all week to prepare for this game, which admittedly is a very different kettle of fish from the cakewalk they had last weekend. The Foxes have a habit of upping their game against the better teams they face, and managed a 1-1 draw at Anfield last season even in the death throes of the Claude Puel experiment. A buoyant Liverpool, though, should prove a hard nut to crack, with home advantage seeing them over the line.
Our recommended tip: Draw/Liverpool
Leicester have lost once all season, and that defeat came at Old Trafford in a game where they were broadly expected to heap more difficulty on the beleaguered Manchester United. By and large, they’ve been very much in every game they’ve played this campaign, and they will present a challenge to the league leaders here – not least due to the impressively obdurate defence they’ve built since the departure of Harry Maguire. We’d expect Liverpool to eventually breach it and secure the points, but to need the whole 90 minutes to get there. Unibet are offering 7/2 on the East Midlands side to hold out for half the game before eventually succumbing.
Previous matches
The meeting between these sides at Anfield back at the end of January came in the middle of a wobble which, as it turned out, cost Liverpool the title. Had Maguire not got on the end of a set-piece in first-half injury time, then Klopp’s side may well have become domestic champions last season. The previous meeting at Leicester’s King Power Stadium was dominated for long stretches by Liverpool, who opened up a 2-0 half-time lead, but were left hanging on when Rachid Ghezzal pulled one back for the hosts midway through the second period.
Top 3 Premier League Bookies
Players to watch: Andrew Robertson & Ricardo Pereira
Queens’ Park – Dundee United – Hull – Liverpool is an unusual pipeline for a professional footballer but, in eight seasons, former Celtic trainee Robertson has gone from part-timer to one of the best full-backs in Europe. It’s about a decade ago that he was judged as “too small” for the sharp end of the game, but his immaculately-timed run to apply a striker’s finish to an Alexander-Arnold cross and put Liverpool 2-0 up on Wednesday night was just the latest riposte to those who doubted him.
Speaking of full-backs who get better with every game, Pereira arrived at the King Power last summer and landed in a side that was fatally disorganised and inconsistent from game to game. Nonetheless, he stood out and by the end of the season was voted Leicester’s Player of the Season. This year, functioning in a side that is finally fulfilling its potential has meant more chances for Pereira to impress. He’s scored in the last two league games for the Foxes, and could come into direct competition with Robertson today.
