‘Looking Strong At The Moment’ – A Word On Saturday’s Opponents
- Sam Lee from the Athletic has previewed Leicester City’s trip to Manchester City
- The Foxes will face off against the Citizens at the Etihad Stadium
- Saturday’s Premier League fixture has a 5:30pm BST kick-off
- The Foxes were beaten 1-0 by the Citizens last time out in the Premier League
This weekend’s hosts will start the afternoon in second place, six points behind league leaders Arsenal, and will be looking to close the gap on their competitors as the 2022/23 campaign draws to a close.
Leicester arrive at Etihad Stadium directly in-between two important UEFA Champions League matches between the Citizens and Bayern Munich, however Lee doesn’t believe this will faze the home side, who dispatched the German champions 3-0 only days ago.
“Bayern were good and had a lot of chances, but Man City’s defence helped them cope with the pressure,” The Athletic reporter told LCFC TV’s Matchday Live. “It was quite an even game to some extent, but they’re looking pretty ruthless at the moment, and I always thought they’d get the win over Bayern.
“A lot of fans were nervous before the game, so in that sense I guess you could say the win exceeded expectations. It’s been a strange season because they looked a little off until about a month ago.
“Now in the space of five games, it’s just clicked, and it looks like the same Man City of recent times of dominance. We’re still behind Arsenal because of previous results, but they’re finishing strong.”
Arsenal have held the lead in the race for the Premier League title for most of the campaign, but Man City’s recent form has shown that the season is far from over.
“It is in Man City’s hands, but it’s also in Arsenal’s hands as they play each other,” the journalist continued. “If Man City beat Arsenal and win their game in hand, then the two sides are level on points. But because there is a points gap, there is a possibility that they left it too late.
“The one thing I am comfortable in saying is that I think Man City will look confident going into these last games of the season. Maybe they’ll lose a game or won’t get near Arsenal, but the team is looking strong at the moment.
“But what no one knows is what Arsenal will do. Maybe they will collapse, like everyone has expected them too at some point this season, but to their credit, they’ve kept it going.”
Despite a busy schedule, Lee believes that a changed line-up for Man City won’t be on the cards.
He added: “With the size of the squad, there isn’t an awful lot of depth there. We know that Man City have top players on the sidelines, but it’s not like they can make changes all over the pitch.
“Kyle Walker could come back in, so could Aymeric Laporte, but he’s barely played and looks to be on his way out. In midfield, all the top four played against Bayern, and then you’ve got Kalvin Phillips who has only started twice all season and not in the Premier League, so he’s not coming in.
“[Phil] Foden is still injured, and so across the front line it could only be [Riyad] Mahrez or [Julián] Álvarez so there’s not a lot of room for manoeuvre. I think the plan will be to go full force. It will be a strong team, and similar to the starting line-up against Bayern.
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“The Leicester game is as big as the Champions League games because there’s only one chance. If they drop points against Leicester, they’ll probably think the race is over, so they’ll go as strong as they need to."
Dean Smith was announced as the new manager of the Foxes this week, and with a necessity for points at the other end of the table, The Athletic writer confirms that the Citizens’ fans are wary of the potential threat that Leicester may pose.
“With Brendan Rodgers now not in charge, I think any fear from the home side will be from that ‘new manager bounce’ of Smith coming in,” Lee admitted. “Maybe it makes things difficult, but you have to say that Man City are flying at the moment, and they’ll know they need to get the job done.
“People will have that base layer of understanding the potential threat, but the mood across the club will be that they need to win, and I think that Man City will have the confidence going into the game, despite the recent problems.”