MY ACCOUNT
– Leicester have scored two or more goals in six of their last seven games
– Newcastle have netted in 12 of their 15 league fixtures this term
– Recommended bet: Over 3.5 goals
Leicester and Newcastle were two of the Premier League’s in-form sides prior to the World Cup break and both will be aiming to pick up where they left off when they meet at the King Power Stadium on Boxing Day.
Only two teams picked up more top-flight points than Leicester across their last six matches before the break, one of those being leaders Arsenal and the other Newcastle.
The Magpies currently sit third in the standings and they extended their unbeaten run to 12 matches across all competitions with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup during the week — their first competitive fixture since the World Cup.
Leicester also returned to action with a Carabao Cup success, as the Foxes saw off MK Dons to make it six wins in seven and further underline that their early-season struggles are a thing of the past.
As luck would have it, these two sides have been drawn to face each other in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup next month at St James’ Park, but they will first lock horns at the King Power on Boxing Day in a match that promises to be a festive cracker.
Team news
Leicester’s only confirmed absentees remain full-backs Ryan Bertrand and Ricardo Pereira, with both players yet to feature this season due to respective knee and Achilles injuries.
Newcastle’s club-record signing Alexander Isak remains unavailable due to the hamstring injury he sustained back in September, while defenders Paul Dummett (calf) and Emil Krafth (knee) will not return until the New Year.
The stats
Leicester’s return to form has been obvious to see, as after taking just a solitary point from their opening seven league matches of the season, they have accumulated 16 from the eight since.
That sequence includes home wins over Nottingham Forest and Leeds, but they are the only league successes Brendan Rodgers’ side have had at the King Power this season, with Southampton the only side to have picked up fewer top-flight points on their own patch.
Newcastle have only lost one of their 18 matches across all competitions this season, with six of their last seven ending in victory — the only exception during that run was a goalless Carabao Cup draw with Crystal Palace, but they even managed to triumph in that following a penalty shootout.
Eddie Howe has built much of that success on a strong defence, with Newcastle having kept six clean-sheets across their last eight games, while only Arsenal and Manchester United have picked up more top-flight points on the road than the Magpies.
Newcastle claimed a 2-1 victory when these two sides most recently met at St James’ in April, but their last visit to the King Power ended in a comprehensive 4-0 defeat just over 12 months ago.
Prediction
These two sides are both trending in the right direction and, with confidence flowing, there could be goals on the agenda.
Leicester have scored two or more goals in six of their last seven games across all competitions, while Newcastle have netted in 12 of their 15 league fixtures this term.
The Magpies also boast the joint-best defence in the top flight, but they have shown a vulnerability on their travels, conceding in five of their last six league games on the road, including against the bottom two Southampton and Wolves.
There have been 24 goals scored across the last six meetings between these two sides — an average of four-per-game — which makes over 3.5 goals to be scored in Monday’s contest the preferred option at 2/1 with LiveScore Bet.
