The Lowdown: Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool
Ahead of the weekend's encounter with Jürgen Klopp's side, who sit just one place and three points below the Foxes in the Premier League standings, LCFC.com takes a closer look at the 19-time English title winners.
The team
Liverpool possess a supremely talented first team squad littered with established internationals who have enabled the Merseyside outfit to win the game's biggest prizes in recent seasons.
Strikers Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané netted a combined 57 goals in all competitions last season, with the Reds' attacking options being bolstered by the reported £41M signing of Diogo Jota, who made a promising start to his Liverpool career.
The Portuguese winger scored five Premier League goals and seven in all competitions prior to a knee injury that currently rules him out of action. Salah, meanwhile, is currently the Premier League's top scorer with 16 strikes to his name.
In all competitions, Salah is on 22 goals this term, while Mané (10), Jota (9) and Firmino (6) have all provided too.
Liverpool can also boast an admirable spine to their traditional starting XI with goalkeeper Alisson, centre-back Virgil van Dijk and midfielder Jordan Henderson also regularly starring behind a front-three, when fit and available for selection.
But injuries have been a concern for the Merseyside club, and while Alisson has since returned from a shoulder injury which kept him out of five games in all competitions, van Dijk (ligaments), Joe Gomez (knee) and Joel Matip (ankle ligaments) are all currently out injured.
As a result, Liverpool moved to sign two central defenders during the January transfer window, recruiting Ben Davies from Preston North End for a reported £2M and Ozan Kabak on loan from Schalke 04.
The manager
Successive FIFA Best Men's Coach of the Year, Jürgen Klopp, has built a team considered to be one of the strongest in world football, leading to last season's Premier League title triumph.
Klopp's playing career saw the Stuttgart-born defender-turned-striker make over 325 appearances for Mainz 05 between 1990 and 2001, following brief spells at four other clubs.
It was at Mainz 05 where Klopp began forging his managerial reputation after winning six of his opening seven matches, defying the odds and guiding them to safety in the Bundesliga 2.
The following season brought even more success as the youthful manager transformed Mainz 05 into contenders who eventually finished in fourth place in German football's second division.
While Die Nullfünfer narrowly missed out on promotion for a second successive season in 2002/03, a third-place finish during the following campaign finally allowed them to rise into the top tier.
Despite being reported as having the smallest playing budget in the league, Klopp inspired Mainz 05 to successive 14th-place finishes, sealing qualification to the UEFA Cup in 2005/06.
When the club was relegated in 2007, Klopp stayed, but in 2008, he did leave Bruchwegstadion to join Borussia Dortmund, where he would seal successive Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012.
Klopp's intense playing style on the pitch and laid-back character off it saw him make headlines across Europe - as Dortmund also won the DFB-Pokal and the DFL-Supercup twice.
However, while the 53-year-old was a beaten Champions League finalist at Dortmund, after four years of development at Liverpool, Klopp became a European champion with the Reds in 2019.
The German has since guided the Reds to additional Super Cup and Club World Cup victories, before ending a 30-year wait for Liverpool to be crowned as English champions in 2019/20.
Previous encounters
City are currently on a seven-game run without a victory over Liverpool, stretching back to September 2017, when goals from Shinji Okazaki and Islam Slimani booked a 2-0 League Cup success on Filbert Way.
Liverpool were 3-0 victors in the reverse fixture at Anfield in November 2020, thanks to goals from Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino and Jonny Evans' own goal.
The Reds also came out on top twice last term, narrowly beating Brendan Rodgers' men at Anfield, although Jürgen Klopp has tasted defeated by the Foxes on two previous occasions.
A brace from Jamie Vardy in February 2016, including a breath-taking half volley from distance, came en route to the title for Leicester in 2015/16 before a 3-1 triumph 12 months later.
Another duo of strikes from Vardy bookended a smart effort from Danny Drinkwater that day as Craig Shakespeare's City started a five-game winning run in the Premier League.
The trophy cabinet
Premier League title holders Liverpool are the second most successful club in English top tier history, winning 19 titles, most recently being crowned champions last season.
The Reds have also lifted the FA Cup on a remarkable seven occasions, while the Merseyside club also hold the record for most League Cup triumphs (eight).
With six UEFA Champions League (formerly European Cup) successes to their name, the Reds are English football's most successive representatives in Europe.
The penalty shootout victory over Chelsea in the 2019 Super Cup Final, meanwhile, secured a fourth such title in the Anfield club's history, alongside three UEFA Cups.
Including Community Shield (formerly Charity Shield) wins and Second Division titles, Liverpool have won 66 major honours over the course of their trophy-laden 128-year history.
Last season's 1-0 win over Brazilian side Flamengo, on the other hand, also sealed their first-ever Club World Cup success in Qatar.
The stadium
With a capacity of 54,074, Anfield is the seventh largest football venue in England and has been Liverpool's home since 1892, undergoing several expansions in that time.
The iconic Kop is among the most famous stands in world football, generating a unique atmosphere on matchdays, alongside the Main Stand, Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand and the Anfield Road Stand.
Players running out at the stadium will be confronted by the famous 'This Is Anfield' sign upon their entrance to the field of play, another easily recognisable hallmark of Liverpool's home venue.
While also staging matches for rivals Everton between 1884 and 1892, Anfield has previously hosted Super League and Rugby League fixtures over its entire history.
In 2016, Leicester City were the visitors for Liverpool's first home match since the redevelopment of Anfield's new Main Stand, which increased its capacity by 8,000 seats.
Upcoming fixtures
Liverpool travel to face German Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League next Tuesday (8pm kick-off), with the last 16 first leg tie been played at a neutral venue of Puskás Aréna in Budapest, Hungary.
The Merseyside Derby and a return to Premier League action at Anfield against Everton follows on Saturday 20 February (5:30pm kick-off) before the Reds head to Sheffield United the following Sunday for their final fixture of the month (12:30pm kick-off).
Another home league match, against Fulham, follows on 6 March (3pm kick-off), ahead of the return leg against Leipzig at Anfield on Wednesday 10 March (8pm kick-off). Also during March, Liverpool will face Wolverhampton Wanderers (A) and Chelsea (H).
All times GMT.