Leicester City welcome PSV Eindhoven to the King Power Stadium in the first leg of their Quarter-Final tie in 2021-22 UEFA Europa Conference League.
Leicester qualified for this Quarter-Final after scraping past Rennes in the last round, whilst PSV overcame Copenhagen 8-4 on aggregate to advance from their Round of 16 tie.
Team News
Luke Thomas is set to return for Leicester after recovering from a hamstring injury which forced him to sit out Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Manchester United in the Premier League.
Jonny Evans (calf) is a doubt but Danny Ward, Ryan Bertrand, Wilfred Ndidi and Jamie Vardy (all knee) remain absent.
PSV will be without Erick Gutierrez as the Mexican midfielder serves an one-match suspension, having accumulated three yellow cards in the tournament.
Ryan Thomas and Phillipp Mwene (both unspecified) are doubtful but Ibrahim Sangare (unspecified) is ruled out.
Stat Attack
- This is Leicester’s first-ever meeting against PSV Eindhoven in all competitions.
- PSV are playing away against Leicester for the very first time but are winless in their last five visits against English opposition (D1, L4).
- Leicester are playing Dutch opposition for the very first time in all competitions.
- Brendan Rogers’ Foxes have scored first in four of their five home matches in all UEFA competitions this season (W3, D2), with exception of a comeback 1-1 draw against Spartak Moscow in Europa League.
- Six of PSV’s ten goals in the Europa Conference knockout stage have been scored between Eran Zahavi and Cody Gakpo, with both players netting three goals each.
Prediction
Leicester really do seem to be rediscovering their groove in recent matches because their attacking movement and pace at Man Utd on Saturday was excellent, amidst wasted chances and some harsh VAR decisions but slow reactions to clear the ball prevented a win.
PSV meanwhile are a dangerous team with players like Zahavi, Gakpo and ex Tottenham loanee – Carlos Vinicius plus various goalscorers littered throughout the squad, so I am expecting them to come here and attack which could mean a lot of defending for Leicester.
I however would like to see the Foxes come out fighting with the same quality witnessed at Old Trafford and try to clinically control this game, although the first goal will be crucial because if the Foxes get it then they should stand a strong chance going into the return leg.
Prediction: Leicester 1-1 PSV
Result: Leicester 0-0 PSV