England Round 12

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Leicester City vs Chelsea Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Leicester City:
Hermansen; Justin, Faes, Vestergaard, Kristiansen; Vinks, Ndidi, Soumare; Khannouss, Edouard, Mavididi

Chelsea:
Sanchez, James, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Lavia; Madueke, Palmer, Neto; Jackson

Leicester City will welcome Chelsea at King Power Stadium on Saturday lunchtime. The Foxes are newcomers in the Premier League and so far they are doing well considering the fact they are out of the drop zone. Leicester sit on the 15th place on the table, but only three points above the 18th placed Crystal Palace. Avoiding the relegation is their key task this season. Of course, the fans are not satisfied, they are remembering some glorious times. But Leicester are in poor form at the moment. They have three defeats on the last four matches across all competitions. Leicester have conceded 12 goals on the mentioned four games and that's a huge problem. According to some sources, the club officials have set the timeframe in which Cooper has to improve the results - until the end of the calendar year. It is understood they have already commenced the process of sounding out potential replacements for Cooper, including former Chelsea and Brighton manager Graham Potter and Ruud van Nistelrooy following his impressive interim spell at Manchester United. Cooper is well aware that he must provide better results, starting from this match. He has some injury and suspension issues as Patson Daka, Bobby Decordova-Reid, Jakub Stolarczyk, Ricardo Pereira, Jordan Ayew and Jamie Vardy are all struggling with injury, while Facundo Buonanotte is banned after accumulating five yellow cards.

Chelsea are sharing the third place on the table with Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Brighton. All three teams have 19 points. It is clear this match is very important for the Blues. Manager Enzo Maresca is well aware about that, so he must find a way to win. I am sure it won't be easy for him. He was Leicester manager last season and most deserved for the promotion. The fans didn't forget him and there will be lot of emotions at King Power. I believe Maresca will receive a warm welcome and great majority of Leicester fans still love him. Chelsea will enter the match with the third-best attacking record in the league, only Manchester City and Tottenham have scored more goals. Chelsea are good in Europe, too. They managed to beat the Armenian outfit Noah 8:0 in UEFA Conference League. But the domestic results are not at highest level, they have just one win on the last five matches in the Premier League. Maresca has the majority of his players available, but youngster Omari Kellyman is sidelined with a hamstring injury. In addition, Jadon Sancho, Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia are rated as doubtful, though they should be ready in time for this match.

Leicester City vs Chelsea Prediction:

Chelsea are big favorites in this match. However, I will suggest goals. According to me, both teams will score at King Power Stadium. Leicester are in poor form, though their matches are producing goals. The Foxes have scored and conceded in four of the last five games in all competitions. Chelsea have a similar statistics, they have scored and conceded on each of the last six matches in the Premier League.

Leicester City vs Chelsea Pick: Both teams to score - Yes @ 1.63 with Pinnacle

 

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Manchester City vs Tottenham Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Manchester City:
Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol; Kovacic; Bernardo Silva, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Savinho; Haaland

Tottenham:
Vicario; Porro, Romero, Dragusin, Udogie; Kulusevski, Bissouma, Sarr; Jahnson, Solanke, Son Heung-Min

Manchester City will welcome Tottenham to Etihad Stadium in a derby match this weekend in the Premier League. The Citizens are second on the table, five points behind the leaders Liverpool. It is clear they are in big crisis at the moment. It is hard to believe, but they are in series of four defeats across all competitions. One of those defeats came exactly from Tottenham. Pep Guardiola's men have lost 2:1 in the Carabao Cup. It was the first of four losses, maybe the less important. However, the defeats from Bournemouth and Brighton in the Premier League were very painful for the players and fans. Furthermore, they were humiliated in the Champions League losing lost 4:1 to Sporting Lisbon. The reason for the defeats is clear - the injury situation. Guardiola has no adequate replacement for Rodri. The Spaniard will miss the rest of the season due to knee-ligament's injury and it is clear Pep will look for defensive midfielder in January. According to some pundits, Real Sociedad's star Zubimendi is the first option. But Rodri isn't the only injured player. Phil Foden and Jack Grealish pulled out of the England squad and they are rated as doubtful, as well as Ruben Dias and John Stones. Jeremy Doku, Matheus Nunes and Manuel Akanji all withdrew from their respective national squads too and they are injury doubts. Oscar Bobb is long-term absentees.

Tottenham are in the middle of the table with 16 points. The fans are not satisfied and Ange Postecoglou is feeling a pressure. His biggest problem is the inconsistency. The Spurs were fantastic in some occasions, they beat Manchester United 3:0 at Old Trafford and beat Aston Villa 4:1 in London. Nevertheless, Tottenham suffered a painful defeat before the international break. Not even the most pessimistic Spurs' supporter could have predicted the loss from bottom-placed Ipswich Town. The atmosphere in the squad is far from desired and Postegoglou has a difficult job to restore the players confidence. The injury and suspension situation is also a problem for the Australian coach. Rodrigo Bentancur will serve the first of his seven-match ban for an offensive remark he made about teammate Son Heung-min and South Koreans. Bentancur later apologized to Son on Instagram for his "very bad joke", and the Tottenham captain forgave his teammate, insisting that the two were "brothers" and he would never mean to intentionally offend. In terms of injury, Micky van de Ven and Richarlison remain ruled out, while Timo Werner and Mikey Moore are rated as doubtful. There are also doubts about Cristian Romero following a knock sustained while away on international duty with Argentina. Finally, Wilson Odobert is a long-term injury victim due to a hamstring problem.

Manchester City vs Tottenham Prediction:

Manchester City can cut the deficit down to two points by beating Tottenham here. I am sure Pep Guardiola will ask the maximum from his players, this is a "must win" situation. Tottenham should not be underestimated, they know how to produce problems to Guardiola. The Citizens have won just three of their last 10 Premier League games against Tottenham, losing five in the process. No other team have such a record against Guardiola. In addition, Tottenham have scored at least twice in each of their last three Premier League visits to Etihad, winning 3:2 in 2021-22, losing 4:2 in 2022-23 and drawing 3:3 last season. No team has ever scored multiple goals in four consecutive Premier League visits to the Etihad. It is clear Man City have a difficult job to beat Tottenham, but I believe they are able to win. There are two main reasons. First and most important, the quality is on their side. Second, Tottenham are very inconsistent this season.

Manchester City vs Tottenham Pick: Manchester City to win @ 1.52 with Pinnacle