Back Leicester to Finish in the Bottom Half
Sunday’s home defeat to West Bromwich Albion saw the Foxes slip to their first home defeat in 21 league matches at the King Power Stadium.
SportinglyBetter.com analyses why the champions of England are a good bet to finish in the bottom half this season.
Premier League Betting
Three wins, three draws and five defeats from the opening 11 games of the Premier League season has been the start of Leicester’s title defence, with the Foxes currently residing in 14th place.
Claudio Ranieri’s side sit just two points ahead of Hull who occupy the first relegation spot, with the club’s goal difference currently sitting at minus five.
Leicester’s fairytale of last year has somewhat come across to their European adventure, with the Foxes edging ever closer to qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League at the first time of asking.
An incredibly lacklustre display away at Copenhagen last time out saw the visitors extend their unbeaten lead at the top of Group G to three points with the English side yet to concede a goal in Europe’s elite club competition.
The Foxes will continue to enjoy themselves in the Champions League, but it is their domestic run of form that will be most concerning to manager Claudio Ranieri.
Leicester’s home defeat to West Brom was the club’s first loss at home in 21 Premier League games and this time last season the Foxes secured a 3-2 win at the Hawthorns, which saw them climb up to third in the table.
Sunday’s game however, saw the hosts manage just two efforts on target and much of Leicester’s main protagonists from their title success last season including Danny Drinkwater, Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez simply aren’t clicking.
Jamie Vardy Struggling
Last term Vardy’s stunning return of 24 league goals propelled Leicester to title glory, but that streak seems a million miles away with the striker guilty of putting a header wide from eight-yards out against West Brom last time out.
Jamie Vardy’s barren run now stretches to 13 games for club and country; a run that hasn’t seen the striker score since 10 September.
A lack of involvement on the pitch continues to see Vardy come deep in search of the ball and often drift to the right-hand side of the pitch.
Record club signing Islam Slimani up front has also seen Vardy’s star status and unbroken run in the team fracture.
Kasper Schmeichel’s Injury
Leicester’s push towards Champions League qualification has been in large down to the team being the first in the competition’s history to keep clean sheets in their opening four games.
Kasper Schmeichel’s role in that is by no means to be underestimated, with the goalkeeper producing late saves to maintain Leicester’s unbeaten European run.
The stopper’s hand injury could see the Danish goalkeeper ruled out on the sidelines for a lengthy period of time and without the protection of midfielder enforcer N’Golo Kante from last term, Leicester’s defensive solidity may be called into question again over the next two months.
Verdict
Coming off the international break, the Foxes will be hopeful of some better results with games against Watford (away), Middlesbrough (home) and Sunderland (away) coming up.
That kind fixture run could prove to be pivotal however, with the Premier League betting odds likely to drop should Leicester find difficulty in picking up more than three points. Leicester may do well in making last season’s initial survival goal of 40 points, their priority for now.
Recommended Football Tips
Back Leicester to finish in the bottom half @2.62
Author Credit: Jonathan Day
Image Credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Jamie_Vardy_08_sierpnia_2015.jpg
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