MY ACCOUNT
East Midlands rivals Leicester and Nottingham Forest both went into the recent international break in the Premier League’s relegation zone and will be desperate for pride and points when they lock horns at the King Power Stadium on Monday night.
The clock is seemingly ticking for Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers, who is expected to be the next Premier League manager dismissed — unless he turns his team’s season around, and quickly.
Meanwhile, Forest’s Steve Cooper is still trying to find his best starting combination from a new-look squad.
Leicester were hammered 6-2 away to Tottenham in their last match before the latest batch of internationals, while Forest lost a 3-2 humdinger with Fulham last time out.
Team news
Leicester full-backs Ricardo Pereira and Ryan Bertrand are confirmed absentees for this contest, while Patson Daka fell ill while on international duty and might not be available for the match at the King Power Stadium.
Midfielder Wilfred Ndidi had been struggling with a hamstring strain but is expected to be involved.
Visitors Forest have a lengthy list of absentees featuring defenders Omar Richards, Moussa Niakhate and Scott McKenna as well as midfielders Orel Mangala and Morgan Gibbs-White, and striker Emmanuel Dennis.
The stats
Leicester went into the recent international break bottom of the Premier League, having lost six league games on the spin on the back of an opening draw with Brentford.
However, they have had few issues in the final third, netting 10 times in those seven matches with James Maddison getting on the scoresheet three times in the Premier League this term.
Leicester were largely reliant on points at home last season with 10 of their 14 league wins in the 2021-22 season coming at the King Power Stadium.
Forest have been underwhelming on their travels this season, failing to win any of their three away games in the league.
Prediction
It may surprise a few to see Rodgers still in the Leicester dugout heading into October but the Northern Irish manager has a chance to get his side’s season back on track when they host Nottingham Forest.
Very little has gone right for the Foxes this term and selling Wesley Fofana to Chelsea in the summer has evidently done them no favours given that they have shipped 22 goals in seven games.
That said, the early fixture list has not been kind to Leicester, who have already faced Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham.
Forest, meanwhile, are only three points better off than Leicester and have unsurprisingly struggled to adapt to the Premier League after a summer transfer window which saw them sign 21 players.
Manager Cooper is having trouble bedding in his new additions and, despite their poor start, Leicester are a more settled team with more cohesion about them.
The likes of Maddison and Youri Tielemans are top players in the middle of the park, while Jamie Vardy is still a reliable option up top and Leicester can record their first league win of the season in this East Midlands derby.
Although Forest have scored four goals in the last two games, they came in defeats to fellow promoted sides Fulham and Bournemouth, and they have only scored six in total.
Cooper’s men have also been poor defensively with 17 goals conceded and Leicester should be able to capitalise.
