Two sides that failed to win their opening games despite doing a lot of promising business in the summer transfer window will lock horns with each other at the King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Leicester did come close to getting a point at Old Trafford against Manchester United, but a Luke Shaw goal ended up being the difference maker. Wolves, on the other hand, could get only a point against ten-men Everton at the Molineux last weekend.
The last time these sides met was back in the 2012-13 season, when both of them were in the Championship following Wolves’ relegation from the Premier League. Their last encounter saw the Foxes pick up a 2-1 win after they had lost the reverse fixture by the same scoreline.
Leicester eye Vardy boost
The previous outing at Old Trafford saw Jamie Vardy come off the bench and score very late to make it 2-1 and give the Foxes a glimmer of hope to get a point out of the game. And while the goal didn’t come, Claude Puel has confirmed that there is good chance that Vardy starts against Wolves after suffering from World Cup hangover.
The first game showed that Leicester can be tough to break down, as United had scored their first goal through a Paul Pogba penalty early in the game, but had struggled to break the Foxes down till Luke Shaw had got the Red Devils’ second of the game.
Harry Maguire’s return was a big positive and his performance against a side he could have joined showed that the World Cup hero is still keen on playing for the men in Blue and is still up for it. Ricardo Pereira made his debut at right-midfielder and Daniel Amartey had started at right-back.
Wolves look for big first win
While Wolves didn’t get a win against an Everton side that had Phil Jagielka sent off, Nuno Santo would be happy with his side’s showing. Despite going down twice in the game, his side came back and got a point from a compelling game at the Molineux.
Ruben Neves’ performance was a big positive as the Portuguese star scored from a free-kick and enjoyed his Premier League debut alongside veteran compatriot Joao Moutinho in a 3-4-3 shape. New signing Raul Jimenez had got the second goal and he too enjoyed a promising debut against the Toffees.
And Santo will hope that the optimism around the club and promising start could help them muster something good against a side they can hope to finish around at the end of the season.
Santo could receive new signings’ boost
Leicester will be without Shinji Okazaki, who is currently injured and Matty James too is out injured and won’t feature. New signing from Freiburg- Caglar Soyuncu got his work-permit but will be unavailable to face Wolves on Saturday. Jamie Vardy though, could start.
As far as Wolves are concerned, both Adama Traore and Leander Dendoncker trained yesterday and they could make their debuts- a big bonus for Santo. But Ivan Cavaleiro, who was very important for them in the return to the Premier League, will not be available as he continues his recovery from a back problem.
Predicted line-ups: Leicester (4-2-3-1): Schmeichel; Amartey, Morgan, Maguire, Chilwell; Silva, Ndidi; Pereira, Maddison, Gray; Vardy.
Wolves (3-4-3): Patricio; Bennett, Coady, Boly; Doherty, Moutinho, Neves, Otto; Costa, Jimenez, Jota. Subs: Ruddy, Saiss, Dendoncker, Vinagre, Gibbs-White, Traore, Bonatini.