2022-23 Premier League: Week Three – Leicester vs Southampton

Leicester City meet Southampton at King Power Stadium as both teams chase a first win of 2022-23 Premier League season.

With both teams currently locked on one point apiece from their opening two matches, victory would see either team climb towards the top half of the table.

 

Team News

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Harvey Barnes could return for Leicester after recovering from a knee injury which kept him out of the Foxes’ two opening matches this season.

Ricardo Pereira (Achilles) and Ryan Bertrand (knee) both remain absent.

Southampton could be without Che Adams due to fitness concerns after he missed a few training sessions in midweek.

Lyanco (knee) is available for selection but Valentino Livramento (knee), Romain Perraud and Theo Walcott (both fitness) remain absent.

 

Stat Attack

• Leicester have lost just one of their last six league meetings against Southampton (W3, D2, L1).
• Southampton are unbeaten in four of their last six league visits to King Power Stadium (W2, D2, L2).
• Leicester’s James Maddison scored in both meetings against Southampton last season (W1, D1).
• Maddison is the only Leicester player to have contributed an assist and goal in their opening two league matches this season.
• Southampton have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last eight league matches, during which they have scored eight goals and conceded 21 goals.

 

Prediction

Although playing Arsenal away last weekend was an incredibly daunting task, Leicester actually did well because they were excellent in attack but lacked the finishing touch to many chances, yet were simply defensively outplayed through slow position closing and poor goalkeeping.

I would therefore like to see Leicester continue on that path because they just need to sort out their defensive issues, which will be key to getting their first win because they’ve scored twice in each of their opening two games which is a huge positive.

As for Southampton, it is pretty much a similar story because they lacked the finishing touch for much of their comeback 2-2 draw against Leeds, yet were defensively disappointing in their handling of Leeds’ intensity amidst great saves from Gavin Bazunu.

There is therefore plenty of defensive progress to be made across both teams which should make for an interesting game, although I fancy Leicester to get the win if their attack can find the final touch quickly especially with Barnes back in contention.

Prediction: Leicester 2-1 Southampton

Result: Leicester 1-2 Southampton