Leicester City will host Everton at King Power Stadium in Premier League 2020-21’s midweek clash. The hosts are sitting at third, just one point to league-leaders Spurs, while, Everton occupies the eighth spot in the table.
Match Timings: Dec 16, 11:30 PM IST
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The mid-week fixtures in Premier League start with Everton make travel to King Power Stadium to find three points against Leicester City. The Foxes have a great opportunity to take the top-two spot in the table. If Spurs and Liverpool split the points at Anfield tonight, three points are enough to find Leicester City on the top spot with 27 points. If any team produces a result from the Spurs-Liverpool game and the Foxes secures three points against Everton, Leicester City will take the second spot, just one point adrift of the table-toppers.
Leicester managed to win three matches in the last eight days and with this winning run boosted its chances in both Premier League and Europa League. In a previous top-flight game, Foxes thrashed Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 with a ruthless first-half. In the 27th minute, James Maddison added his name on the scoresheet with the assist of Jamie Vardy. Before the half-time whistle, Foxes scored two goals in four minutes, courtesy of Jamie Vardy and Maddison’s goals. It was a Maddison-Vardy show in King Power stadium and was also the first clean sheet for Rodgers’ side since before the November international break. Spurs and Liverpool both failed to win last week and it helped Foxes to go ahead in the table.
Leicester City also defeated Athens in Europa League 2020-21 on Friday, courtesy of first-half brilliance from Cengiz Under and Harvey Barnes. By securing the top spot in Group G, Foxes have qualified for the next round. Brendan Rodgers would not make any serious change in the lineup for Wednesday's fixture. Foxes will be without the services of Daniel Amartey, Ricardo Pereira, and Caglar Soyuncu. Timothy Castagne's availability is in doubt.
Meanwhile, Everton are back on track after a poor performance in the middle-half. Carlo Ancelotti's side started the season with a different note, remaining winless in the first four matches, followed by a draw against Liverpool. They failed to maintain the winning run and the downfall started with the first defeat against Southampton. After losing to Leeds 1-0, the Toffees played a 1-1 draw with Burnley and secured three points against strong Chelsea.
The 1-0 home victory against Chelsea will give Everton some confidence to find the form of September when they outclassed the Spurs and held Liverpool for a draw. Gylfi Sigurdsson's penalty made all the difference for Everton to get three points against the Blues outfit. Carlo Ancelotti's men are four points behind the hosts and three points off the Champions League positions. The Foxes have won three out of five Premier League home matches against Everton and the Toffees have kept just one clean sheet in the previous 15 top-flight matches against Leicester.
Ancelotti would go with the same XI who started against the Blues last week. Seamus Coleman and James Rodriguez aren’t fully fit but they can come as the substitutes if required. After playing against Athens in Europa League, Harvey Barnes can get the recall in place of Ayoze Perez.
Possible Lineups & Current Form
Leicester City
Lineup: Schmeichel; Fofana, Evans, Fuchs; Albrighton, Mendy, Tielemans, Justin; Maddison, Barnes; Vardy
Premier League form: W W L L W W
Previous match – 3-0 win over Brighton (home)
Everton
Lineup: Pickford; Holgate, Mina, Keane, Godfrey; Doucoure, Allan, Sigurdsson; Iwobi, Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison
Premier League form: L L W L D W
Previous match – 1-0 win over Chelsea (home)
Key Players
Leicester City
Jamie Vardy
10 goals in Premier League 2020-21
1 goal and 1 assist in the last game (vs Brighton)
James Maddison
3 goals in Premier League 2020-21
2 goals in the last game (vs Brighton)
Everton
Dominic Calvert-Lewin
11 goals in Premier League 2020-21
Last goal vs Burnley
Micheal Keane
3 goals in Premier League 2020-21
