Championship league leaders Leicester City face Plymouth Argyle at Home Park on Friday, April 12, 2024. Both sides are on opposite ends of the table, with the hosts looking to extend away from the relegation zone. Last Word on Football brings you a Leicester City predicted lineup as they prepare to take on the Pilgrims.
Leicester City Predicted Lineup vs Plymouth Argyle
Looking towards today's game ⏩
— Leicester City (@LCFC) April 12, 2024
How Leicester City Have Lined-up Recently
Leicester have lined up using a 4-3-3 in the most recent matches, yet changed to a 4-2-3-1 against Millwall on Tuesday. A 4-3-3 was also played against Chelsea in the FA Cup. Danish sensation Mads Hermansen is Leicester’s main goalkeeper. Hermansen has started 40 times for Leicester this season, with 37 coming within the league.
This means he has only missed out on four matches in the league, which was due to a quad injury early in the season. Hermansen has kept twelve clean sheets this season and crucially saved Fabio Carvalho’s penalty against Hull.
The back four has been consistent with Callum Doyle at left-back, Jannik Vestergaard and Wout Faes at centre-back, and Ricardo Pereira at right-back. Pereira has played in 35 matches for the Foxes this season and has contributed to six goals.
Faes has started 38 matches and played both of Belgium’s friendlies against both England and Ireland. Jannik Vestergaard has played every minute of the Foxes’ last 13 matches in all competitions.
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The midfield three changed in the Foxes’ away loss to Millwall. Recently, the midfield has consisted of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Harry Winks, and Wilfred Ndidi. All three players started against Millwall, with Dewsbury-Hall playing just behind the sole striker Jamie Vardy.
The Englishman has played in all of Leicester’s Championship matches this season apart from one. He has scored 12 goals this season and assisted 13. In his last three matches, he has one assist and two goals. Ndidi has only started 21 games in the league this season, yet has started all of Leicester’s matches since March 9.
In their most recent match, Vardy started upfront for only his 14th start of the season. Despite this, he has scored 14 goals this season in the league and has scored twice in cup competitions.
The more consistent starters however have been Stephy Mavididi at left wing, Abdul Issahaku at right wing, and Patson Daka as the centre forward. Both Issahaku and Daka didn’t start in midweek. Mavididi however scored the winner against Birmingham and has played in all of the Foxes matches so far this season, starting 38 out of 41.
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Recent Form
Leicester may be top of the league with a game in hand, but their form recent has been very inconsistent. For league leaders, they have only won two of their last five matches. This form has led to the Foxes losing a 17-point lead at the top of the table to now only being top by goal difference.
In terms of their last five games, Leicester have the 12th best form in the league with promotion rivals Ipswich Town having the best.
The Foxes came back from behind in a draw 2-2 with high-flying Hull City away in early March. In this game, Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen saved a crucial penalty from Fabio Carvalho. In their next match, Leicester lost 1-0 away to Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
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After this poor result however, the Foxes won their next two league matches with the first being a 3-1 over playoff challengers Norwich City, who scored the first goal of the match. The Foxes then beat struggling Birmingham City 2-1 at home, with Mavididi scoring an 87’ minute winner. Even in their most recent wins, the Foxes have struggled to keep clean sheets and often see themselves conceding from early goals.
In their most recent match, Enzo Maresca’s side lost 1-0 to Millwall at the Den in front of 14,889 fans. This came despite the Foxes already beating Millwall twice this season, with both matches finishing 3-2.
In this match, Leicester enjoyed 72% possession and had eleven shots to Millwall’s six. However, they only had three shots on target against Millwall’s four. Despite Hermansen preventing the most goals in the league this season and Vardy having the most expected goals per match, Leicester slumped to a defeat they failed to score in.
Injury News
Enzo Maresca currently has three injuries to consider. Left Winger Thomas Cannon is out until late April. He has suffered a leg injury. Cannon has played 15 matches for the Foxes so far this season, scoring three goals in the process. Two of those have come into the league with the other in the FA Cup.
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Kasey McAteer is also out injured with a hamstring injury. He is also expected later this month. McAteer has scored six times for the Foxes in 23 appearances so far this season. Moreover, Ben Nelson has been injured since last month with a leg injury and is expected to return in early May. Nelson has played nine games for the Foxes this season, with the centre-back scoring once.
Leicester City’s Predicted Lineup vs Plymouth Argyle
GK – Mads Hermansen
LB – Callum Doyle
CB – Jannik Vestergaard
CB – Wout Faes
RB – Ricardo Pereira
LM – Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
CM – Harry Winks
RM – Wilfried Ndidi
LW – Stephy Mavididi
CF – Patson Daka
RW – Abdul Issahaku
