Leicester City kick off their Europa League campaign with a Group G clash against Zorya Luhansk at King Power Stadium.
With Braga and AEK Athens also in Group G, victory will provide Leicester with a confidence boost after back-to-back domestic defeats against West Ham then Aston Villa.
Team News
Jamie Vardy is set to remain absent for Leicester with a calf injury that kept him out of Sunday’s Premier League loss to Aston Villa.
Ricardo Pereira (knee), Daniel Amartey (hamstring), Caglar Soyuncu (leg) and Wilfred Ndidi (adductor) remain absent indefinitely.
Zorya will be without Zauri Makharadze and Maksym Kasakov due to unspecified injuries.
Stat Attack
- This the first-ever meeting between Leicester and Zorya Luhansk in all competitions, whilst also marking the Foxes’ first clash against Ukrainian opposition in any competition.
- Leicester are unbeaten in their last six home games across all UEFA competitions (W4, D2).
- Zorya have lost both of their two previous European clashes against English opposition (L2), with both defeats coming against Manchester United in 2016-17 Europa League at Group Stage.
Prediction
Following two tough defeats domestically, this is a huge chance for Leicester to bounce back with a strong European home performance against a Zorya Luhansk team, although clinical finishing will be key to nailing a result after wasting so many chances in their last two home outings amidst a variety of defensive errors.
Zorya meanwhile have been defensively poor domestically and I can genuinely see that form seeping across into this competition so am going for a routine home win here.
Prediction: Leicester 2-0 Zorya Luhansk
Result: Leicester 3-0 Zorya Luhansk