Stoke City vs Leicester City
England Premier League.
Date: Saturday, 17th December 2016,
Kick-off at 15:00 UK.
Venue: Britannia Stadium, Stoke on Trent.
On previous six meetings between them, both teams have won equal two matches against each other, while the remaining two matches had ended as a draw.
Team News: Stoke City
Injury concerns for Mark Hughes’s side are quite big as many players are sidelined ahead of the Saturday’s clash. Stephen Ireland and Ibrahim Afellay are both ruled out of the match due to their broken leg and knee injury, respectively.
Stoke City will also be without the likes of Phil Bardsley, Geoff Cameron, and Jack Butland because of their injuries.
Striker Marko Arnautovic is suspended following his straight red card against Southampton which means he is unavailable for Hughes’ side in the coming three matches.
Stoke City: Predicted Line-up (4-2-3-1)
Grant – Peters, Johnson, Shawcross, Martins Indi – Whelan, Adam – Shaqiri, Allen, Diouf – Walters
Team News: Leicester City
Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel hasn’t fully recovered from his broken hand, and he remains doubtful for Saturday’s clash against Stoke.
Daniel Drinkwater, who missed the 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth on last Tuesday due to a minor knee injury, probably won’t feature in this match as well.
Danny Simpson could return to the first-team action after serving a one-match suspension.
The Foxes haven’t shown any glimpses of their last year’s glorious form this season. So, the likes of Rihad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy need to deliver match-winning performances if the defending champions want to get positive outcomes.
Leicester City: Predicted Line-up (4-4-2)
Zieler – Huth, Morgan, Fuchs, Simpson – King, Mahrez, Albrighton, Amartey – Vardy, Slimani
Stoke City vs Leicester City: Head-to-head stats
The corresponding fixture of last season between the two at the Britannia Stadium was a 2-2 draw. While Leicester thrashed Stoke City 3-0 in the return leg at the King Power Stadium.
Moreover, Leicester City have won in 2 of the 4 Premier League meetings against Stoke since they won promotion in 2014. Stoke has only 1 win and a draw as positives during the period.
Stoke City vs Leicester City: Predictions
Stoke City is the team to back here considering the miserable form of Leicester City on the road. In their 11 away matches in all competitions this season, the Foxes were beaten in 8, with a lone win coming in Champions League fixture against Club Brugge. It is very unlikely that they regroup from a terrible performance at Bournemouth in the mid-week. Therefore, Stoke City can be confidently back to come away with all three points.
The predicted full-time score is a 2-1 win in favour of Stoke City at the odds of 10/1 (11.00).
Stoke City vs Leicester City: Bet Tips
Stoke City to win at 3.30 (23/10)
Over 2.5 goals at 2.00 (1/1).
