Leicester v Liverpool preview: Both sides desperate for points
Their defence has proved the obvious Achilles’ heel in their battle against the drop, having failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 20 PL outings (W3, D4, L13).
That’s proven massively frustrating for their frontline, who have mostly done their bit by finding the net in ten of those 17 winless games, and they’ll have felt aggrieved again in their last outing at Fulham where Leicester lost 5-3.
That spells trouble for boss Dean Smith, who won’t be happy to be preparing to face Liverpool considering he’s lost four of his five PL H2Hs (W1) in his managerial career.
The prospect of his misery extending is made even more frightening by the fact Liverpool have produced six straight wins, though each of the last five came by narrow one-goal margins, as was the case in the reverse fixture when they ran out 2-1 winners.
Jürgen Klopp’s side have subsequently cemented themselves in fifth place, while also laying the foundations for a potential late assault on the top four.
The need for such form would normally be redundant at this point of the season, but the Reds’ poor away form this campaign has cost them dearly.
They’ve secured more than double the amount of points at home (43) compared to their away haul (19), and that discrepancy would’ve been worse had it not been for winning their last two fixtures on the road.
Players to watch: Leicester’s survival hopes may well rest on the shoulders of club hero Jamie Vardy, who’ll look to add to his ten goals scored in his last 13 games against Liverpool.
For the opposition, Mohamed Salah is on the brink of another historical landmark, being a single strike away from becoming the first Liverpool player since Roger Hunt in the early 1960s to score 20+ league goals in three successive seasons.
Hot streak: Liverpool last lost a PL match when leading at half-time in December 2016, going 123 such matches unbeaten since (W113, D10).
