Fans of Leicester City will not be blamed for being bitterly disappointed with their results since the turn of the year, despite their strong form in Europe, with the Foxes sitting in thirteenth, two points ahead of Newcastle United with two games in hand.
The Foxes were originally scheduled to face Chelsea this week, but since the Blues were occupied in the EFL Cup final, Leicester have decided to take the opportunity to play a previously postponed game against Burnley at Turf Moor.
Burnley seem to have had a resurgence in recent games, especially since the signing of the Dutch striker Wout Weghorst, only suffering one defeat to Liverpool since his arrival, stoking the flames of a good run of form for the Clarets, which is not good news for Leicester fans.
Teams News...
Big news for Leicester fans as Mister-Leicester-City himself Jamie Vardy is back in the squad for the trip to Turf Moor after missing out on two months of action, looking to add to the nine Premier League goals he has already scored this season.
Manager Brendan Rodgers in his most recent press conference: “Jamie Vardy will be back in the squad which is great news for us. He's looked sharp in the few days training he's had. He’ll come in and play a part.
“To have that level of mentality as well as the ability is very important for any squad. He’s proven player at the level, he's a top player at the level, and what you find with top players is that they have that mentality. When you have that back in your squad, that makes you stronger.
"To have him back is great, for him to be able to travel and feature, so that's a huge boost for us."
Also, after being left out of the squad against Randers as part of his injury programme, Ricardo Pereira will return to the Leicester City team against Burnley as well as Marc Albrighton after sustaining a "little twist" in Denmark.
This leaves only five players sidelined: James Justin, Wesley Fofana, Timothy Castagne, Jonny Evans, and Ryan Bertrand.
In terms of Burnley, one man had taken the spotlight on his inconsistent game-time due to fitness, Ivorian winger Maxwell Cornet. Cornet did return to the Burnley bench after getting injured against Brighton, but wasn't used as the Clarets went on to draw 1-1 with Crystal Palace.
Dyche also has central midfielder, Ashley Westwood, and left back, Charlie Taylor, back at his disposal, both of them coming on as second-half subs against Palace.
The Managers Have Their Say...
Both Brendan Rodgers and Sean Dyche had their say on the matter of the latter ends of their respective seasons, with both managers looking to finish the season in strong fashion:
Leicester City Manager Brendan Rodgers:
“It’s trying to find consistency. We have been unable to sustain the good performances. It’s about finding the rhythm in our game. It’s about creating opportunities and scoring goals. The Randers game, we had the job done early but then it was difficult because of the pitch. But the performance level has been improving. It could be a really good end to the season for us.”
Burnley Manager Sean Dyche:
"I didn't think we were far off, we are not the real deal and are constantly a work in progress. I always believed in what we do. I think the players are beginning to get their rewards for a season's work rather than spells. Now we have to continue it, we have had a nice spell of results and performances."
"Those one percentages, they count, and we’ve been improving on those. All those tiny margins start making everything seem more powerful and that’s what’s happened so far. And I say only so far because there’s still a lot of work to do."
Predicted XIs:
Burnley: Nick Pope, Conor Roberts, James Tarkowski, Ben Mee, Charlie Taylor, Ashley Westwood, Josh Brownhill, Aaron Lennon, Dwight Mcneil, Jay Rodriguez, Wout Weghorst.
Leicester City: Kasper Schmeichel, Ricardo Pereira, Daniel Amartey, Çağlar Söyüncü, Luke Thomas, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Wilfred N'Didi, Youri Tielemans, Ademola Lookman, Harvey Barnes, Jamie Vardy
Ones To Watch...
Jamie Vardy
It would be a blatant lie to suggest that Leicester City wouldn't be keeping their eyes on their returning talisman, Jamie Vardy, who has been simply spectacular since his introduction to the Premier League when Leicester City were promoted in 2014.
His record of scoring in eleven consecutive Premier League games is a record that doesn't look like it will be broken any time soon and even when Leicester have been below-par during their time in the top-flight, Jamie Vardy has consistently been there to steal a point or grab a win for Leicester. Not bad for a lad who wasn't even a professional footballer till the age of twenty-five.
Wout Weghorst
And while we're on the subject of talismanic forwards, how can we not mention Burnley's six foot six giant that is Wout Weghorst? His £12million price tag was a stroke of genius from Sean Dyche and the staff at Burnley, and he has undoubtedly impressed since his introduction to English football.
He may be tall and imperious yet there is something oddly elegant about his game, with his tricky feet and the use of his physique proving the perfect man to link up play with his team mates and it's no coincidence that Burnley have been on fire ever since he signed on the dotted line at the end of January.
How To Watch...
Burnley vs Leicester City is available to watch on the NBC Sport app, kicking off tomorrow evening at 19:45PM (GMT)