Leicester City face Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League.
The Foxes bounced back from defeat against Leeds United to win at Fulham last time out and will be hoping to follow the result with another away victory against Wolves.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have struggled this season but won their first game in nine in midweek against Arsenal and will be keen to build on the result and climb up the table.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
The Wanderers have not endured a good season so far, sitting in 14th place and only four points ahead of 17th placed Burnley.
In previous seasons, Wolves have used a set formation throughout the whole campaign. Their three at the back system had a reputation as being one of the best and led them to a European spot two seasons ago.
However, with injuries and a lack of consistency in results, this has changed for Espirito Santo’s team. The regular changes in formation have had an effect, but after the win against Arsenal, they may have found a successful system to use.
Wolves set up in a 4-2-3-1 and this is what they are expected to line-up in on Sunday afternoon at Molineux.
Rui Patricio will keep his place in goal and a back four of Nelson Semedo, captain Conor Coady, Willy Boly, and Max Kilman is expected. Romain Saiss could return at centre-back or left-back after missing out against Arsenal.
Both of the Wanderers' centre-midfielders scored in that game and both should start on Sunday. Portuguese pair Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves will look to try and deal with a tough Leicester midfield.
Adama Traore, Daniel Podence, and Pedro Neto are expected to line-up behind new signing Willian Jose. Fabio Silva has struggled to get going in his Wolves career and Jose has been preferred to the young striker since joining.
Predicted Line-Up:
Patricio; Semedo, Coady, Boly, Kilman; Neves, Moutinho; Traore, Podence, Neto; Willian Jose.
Leicester City
Leicester have had quite the opposite season to their opponents, sitting in third and putting up a fight to finish inside the top four.
Brendan Rodgers’ side have been on a great run of form with their only loss in their last 11 games coming last week against Leeds. The Foxes' season so far is even more impressive when taking into account the number of injuries they have had throughout the campaign.
Key players such as Jamie Vardy, Wilfred Ndidi, Ricardo Pereira, Timothy Castagne, Caglar Soyuncu, and Wesley Fofana have all been missing at times but Leicester have still managed to get results. Vardy and Ndidi have missed the last two games, however, they will be back in contention on Sunday.
Kasper Schmeichel, who became the second-highest Premier League appearance maker for Leicester on Wednesday, will start in goal. Pereira, Soyuncu, Jonny Evans, and James Justin should start in front of him in the back four.
Youri Tielemans has been in stand-out form in recent games and will start in central midfield. His partner is in question with Ndidi’s return possible. The Nigerian may not be fit enough to come straight back into the team, meaning Hamza Choudhury could keep his place or Nampalys Mendy may return.
Similarly, Vardy has been declared fit but could return on the bench after Kelechi Iheanacho scored against Fulham in midweek. Iheanacho may be preferred to the Foxes returning top scorer so he can build some much-needed confidence.
In behind the striker, James Maddison, who is having a superb season so far, will start and will be the heart of the majority of the Foxes attacking play.
Harvey Barnes will start on the left, but Rodgers is yet to find a regular starter on the right. Ayoze Perez started there last time out, replacing Marc Albrighton, with loanee Cengiz Under seeming to not be in the question for the Foxes boss. Albrighton may be preferred to help provide some defensive support against the dangerous Wolves wingers.
Predicted Line-Up:
Schmeichel; Ricardo, Soyuncu, Evans, Justin; Choudhury, Tielemans; Albrighton, Maddison, Barnes; Iheanacho.
Prediction
Wolves have been way off their usual standard this season and with all their current injuries, Leicester will be considered favourites.
Considering the importance of the result on the Foxes season and their hopes of a top-four finish, it is expected that they will be keen to put the game to bed as soon as possible.
A typical theme from Rodgers’ side is that when they score the opening goal they win the game. This didn’t happen against Leeds last weekend but they will be hoping to get the opener and this time prevent a comeback from the hosts.
The Wanderers may look to use their pace out wide to break through, but with the form of Leicester’s full-backs, that may be a tough task. As well as this, the rampant Foxes attack, combined with the possible return of their two most key players in Vardy and Ndidi spells danger for Espirito Santo’s side.
Score Prediction: Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-2 Leicester City