Leicester City welcome Randers to the King Power Stadium in the first leg of their Knockout Play-Off tie in 2021-22 UEFA Europa Conference League.
Leicester enter this stage of the Europa Conference League after dropping into this competition, following their third-placed finish in their Europa League group.
Team News
James Justin is unlikely to feature for Leicester after suffering a hamstring injury in Sunday’s 2-2 Premier League draw against West Ham.
Ryan Bertrand (knee), Wesley Fofana (leg), Jonny Evans, Timothy Castagne and Jamie Vardy (all thigh) remain ruled out.
Randers’ team news is unclear after not playing since December but Erik Marxen won’t be part of the team, following his move to Nordsjaelland.
Stat Attack
- This is Leicester’s first-ever meeting against Randers in all competitions.
- Leicester are unbeaten in two previous meetings against Danish opposition, having won 1-0 at home against Copenhagen before drawing 0-0 away in 2016-17 UEFA Champions League.
- Randers are playing English opposition for the very first time home or away in all competitions.
- Six different Leicester players have scored each of their six goals at home in Europe this season (Ayoze Perez, Harvey Barnes, Daniel Amartey, Patson Daka, James Maddison and Wilfred Ndidi).
- Randers are yet to keep a clean sheet in eight matches across all UEFA competitions this season.
Prediction
Defending hasn’t been Leicester’s finest point all season which was noticeable in Sunday’s draw against West Ham, where they were outclassed from a long ball and set piece respectively, yet their attack was aggressive and nearly paid off if not for a late set piece.
Randers meanwhile aren’t exactly impressive themselves either defensively but have scored in seven of eight European matches this season, so shouldn’t be underestimated in their attacking quality which should hopefully allow for an entertaining battle.
On that note, I would be surprised if there aren’t goals flying in at both ends but Leicester now need to take this seriously as a route into Europe next season, which might well provide them with the motivation to try and wrap up the tie here.
Prediction: Leicester 3-1 Randers
Result: Leicester 4-1 Randers