Reigning champions Liverpool and would-be contender Leicester City hope to get healthy off each other when two off-kilter sides tangle at the King Power Stadium on Saturday (start time 7:30am ET on NBCSN and online via NBCSports.com).
Liverpool is coming off a 4-1 loss to Man City which saw the one-time unbeatable home side slump to a third-successive home defeat, while Leicester’s 0-0 draw at Wolves left plenty to be desired as the Foxes have won just once in four league outings.
STREAM LEICESTER CITY – LIVERPOOL
Third place is on the line with Leicester opening the day three points clear of the fourth-place Reds, who at 40 points are now 10 back of first with one more match played than title favorites Man City.
Can Brendan Rodgers get one over on his former club? The Leicester boss has lost all three of his meetings against Jurgen Klopp and has not beaten the Reds since before he was their boss, a 1-0 Swansea win at the Liberty Stadium in 2012 that gave Swans four points out of six from Kenny Dalglish’s side.
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Team news
Leicester are without Wesley Fofana, James Justin, Timothy Castagne, Dennis Praet, and Wes Morgan but Jamie Vardy is back. Daniel Amartey starts at right back after James Justin suffered a season-ending injury.
Justin suffered an ACL injury against Brighton in the FA Cup and is expected to miss several months as he requires surgery. The young full back, 22, was having a fine season and making a late push towards Gareth Southgate’s England squad, so this is a big blow for the Foxes.
The Foxes' line-up for #LeiLiv 🦊🔵
Brought to you by @eToro 🤝
— Leicester City (@LCFC) February 13, 2021
Liverpool is still without Virgil van Dijk, Diogo Jota, Naby Keita, Joe Gomez, and Joel Matip. Jota and Keita are the only two likely to return any time in the near future.
Fabinho is out injured, Jurgen Klopp has confirmed, so new signing Ozan Kabak partners Jordan Henderson in central defense. James Milner starts with Wijnaldum and Jones in central midfield.
🔴 Today's line-up 🆚 @LCFC…
2️⃣ changes from our last outing. @ozankabak4 makes his debut. #LEILIV | #LFC
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 13, 2021
Odds and ends (full odds provided by our partner, PointsBet)
The odds are tighter than one might expect, with +235 coming for a Leicester City win and +250 for draw, though Liverpool is still just +108 to win.
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Prediction
There have been a lot of goals in this series, won by Liverpool six times in a seven-match unbeaten run. The Reds beat Leicester 3-0 at Anfield on Nov. 22 and 4-0 at the King Power on Boxing Day 2019. It seems unlikely to be that bad, at the very least, though remember that Liverpool is without three center backs and Leicester doesn’t have its best in young Wesley Fofana. Leicester 1-2 Liverpool.
How to watch Leicester – Chelsea stream and start time
Kick off: 7:30am ET Saturday
TV Channel: NBCSN
Online: Stream via NBCSports.com
