Leicester City will be aiming to extend their Premier League winning run as they take on struggling Watford at the King Power Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Brendan Rodgers' Foxes are absolutely flying at the current time and sit second following their dramatic late victory against Everton last time out, and will be aiming to cut the gap to leaders Liverpool. Meanwhile, Watford's relegation troubles worsened at the weekend as they relinquished the lead to lose against Southampton.
Key Battle
There's surely only one man that the Hornets will have to keep a close eye on throughout the match and that is Foxes forward Jamie Vardy. The 32-year-old leads the goalscoring charts in the Premier League with 13 strikes already this season.
He is also in red hot form at the current time having netted in each of his previous six league matches, including the equaliser against Everton in the Foxes' last match.
The omens do not bode particularly well for the visitors then. Only Southampton and Norwich City have conceded more goals than Watford's 28 this season. As a matter of fact, they have only managed to keep two away clean sheets in the Premier League throughout the entirety of 2019.
The likes of Adrian Mariappa and Craig Cathcart will have to be on top form to silence Vardy and Leicester, then.
What happened last time?
It was actually the Hornets that inflicted Brendan Rodgers' first loss as Leicester boss the last time these two sides met in March. Taking over from Claude Puel just a week before the match, the Northern-Irishman took his Leicester side to Vicarage Road and got off to a horrendous start as Troy Deeney gave the hosts the lead within the first five minutes.
Vardy predictably equalised as he struck clinically from a Youri Tielemans through-ball in the 75th minute. However, that parity was not to last as Andre Gray fired home a late winner for the hosts.
Team News
Demarai Gray could potentially return to action having missed out entirely on Sunday due to the flu. Supporters will not be disappointed to see his deputy, Kelechi Iheanacho, drafted in once again though after the Nigerian put in a sparkling showing off the bench against Everton.
Elsewhere, Matty James remains out for Leicester despite making his return to training some weeks ago.
For Watford, they could see Kiko Femenia in action once again as despite picking up a slight knock, he does not look like he is going to miss any significant football. Another huge boost could be the potential return of Troy Deeney. The Hornets' skipper is also back in training and could make his first Premier League start since August.
On the other hand, interim boss Hayden Mullins still does have an extensive injury list to contend with. The match at the King Power Stadium is likely to come too early for Craig Dawson and Christian Kabasele, whilst long-term absentees Danny Welbeck, Tom Cleverley, Sebastian Prodl and Daryl Janmaat all remain out.
Predicted Line-Ups
Leicester City: Schmeichel; Chilwell, Evans, Soyuncu, Pereira; Ndidi, Tielemans, Maddison; Barnes, Perez, Vardy.
Watford: Foster; Holebas, Cathcart, Mariappa, Femenia; Pereyra, Capoue, Doucoure, Sarr; Deulofeu, Deeney.
Managers' Thoughts
Despite his side currently challenging in the upper reaches of the Premier League, Rodgers has suggested that he is not getting carried away.
He said: "There’s still a long way to go. With 10 games to go, let’s see where it’s at.
"Liverpool have made a brilliant start. They’ve shown how brilliant they are. It’s going to be extremely tough for any team to catch them."
Meanwhile, Mullins has highlighted the potentially daunting task that awaits his side one that the Hornets are relishing. He said: "We know we're facing a very good side in Leicester, so obviously that's the main challenge that's facing us at the moment.
"We know they're a very good side. They've got loads of pace in the team and they're a big threat, so it's how we kind of approach the game and how we set up to attack them."