The upcoming Manchester City and Leicester City clash has not been greatly talked about or anticipated, but it is a huge match for both sides.
The Title Race
Leicester City, Manchester City and Liverpool make up the top three of the Premier League table. It looks like this may even be the top three that we end the season with as all these sides have looked a cut above the rest. The Foxes are currently entering the most important two weeks of their season; they will play the Citizens this week and the Reds next. If Leicester City don’t come away with all six points from these two fixtures, the title race is surely over.
The Manchester City game not only provides an opportunity to climb the table, but it will be a massive confidence builder going into the next weeks. Leicester will need this confidence to be at their best against a seemingly unbeatable Liverpool team. If things turn out in the Foxes’ favour they will want to carry this mindset into the most fixture dense part of the season. December really tests the limits of players, so they will need to be at their peak if they have any hope of remaining in title contention.
Leicester City Need to Get Rolling Again
Leicester are coming off two unconvincing results, at Norwich and Everton. They did not look their best when dropping points to a Norwich side battling relegation. They’ll need to do some tweaking before these important games because the intense attacks of City and Liverpool will be much more potent than the likes of Teemu Pukki. They may have won their fixture against Everton in the Carabao Cup, but it was only on penalties. Leicester City’s defence fell asleep, allowing Everton to score two goals in the second half, bringing the game to penalties.
These defensive errors will have to be fixed by the time the City fixture rolls around on the 21st.
Jamie Vardy is the leader for the Premier League top scorer award. He just came off of a streak of scoring in seven consecutive games. In the disappointing Norwich game, this streak was ended. Vardy will be looking to get right back to work and start scoring some more goals.
Manchester City Need to Assert Their Power
The Citizens also have a lot to prove in this matchup, as many are saying that they are only high on the table because of easy fixtures. This has some truth to it; City haven’t beaten any of the traditional ‘big six’ sides other than Chelsea this season. Even though Chelsea have been a dangerous side this season, they too have failed all their big tests. This makes Manchester’s win a little less impressive. City will also need to build confidence going into some tough December fixtures.
Game Overview
This game will be one to watch, as it features two high intensity attacking sides, with questionable defences. Both teams will be pouring on the pressure because they know the importance of this game to the title race and their seasons. Not only that, but this game may be a preview of the Carabao Cup final. Leicester City and Manchester City are both in the semis of the competition and are favoured to make it to the finals. This game might provide a tactical analysis for the managers before their next big meeting.
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