Manchester City clash with Leicester in the English Premier League on Boxing Day and we have goals markets and goalscorer betting tips courtesy of @Olimp_SA
Manchester City vs. Leicester, EPL Round 19, 26 December 17:00
The Sky Blues are sitting comfortably at the top of the EPL table with 44 points. After a memorable thrashing of Leeds two outings ago Pep’s men were able to put in another dominating performance in Newcastle last weekend that saw them thrashing the Magpies 4-0 as well. The Citizens have now won their last eight EPL matches and have also been fortunate enough to not be disrupted with a Covid outbreak in their team which has allowed them to maintain a lot of momentum in their campaign. They are slowly starting to pull away from the rest of the Top 4 and are now three points ahead of the Reds who are in second spot. In addition to this, their goal tally is starting to climb significantly as of late and with 44 goals now in the season they are not far off being the top-scoring team in the league.
Their defense still holds the title of being the best in the league and it’s done a great job of pulling off a clean sheet in each of their last three matches after some goals were starting to creep past them at the beginning of the month. With Liverpool still nipping at their heels a victory will be essential for City to maintain their breathing room at the top of the table. City’s Boxing Day opponents have been very unpredictable recently and they certainly shouldn’t be taking this clash lightly despite their recent dominant form.
Unfortunately the Foxes were not shown any mercy by the EPL Covid outbreak and as a result have had their last two respective league fixtures against Spurs and Everton postponed. Being out of action has meant that they have slipped down to ninth spot on the table with 22 points, but they do at least have a couple of games in hand which gives them the chance of ending the season closer to the Top 4 despite their current standing. More good news for the Foxes is that they were able to field a full-strength team on Wednesday night for their EFL Cup quarter-final clash against Liverpool. The week’s break looked to be a very valuable one after Brendan Rodgers’s men netted three times in the first half and stormed to a 3-1 lead at half-time. They came bitterly close to hanging on in the second half for the win, but unfortunately the game would go to penalties after they conceded a goal in the dying moments of the match. The Reds would go on to win the penalty shootout and deny the Foxes their place in the semi-final.
As heartbreaking as that defeat was for the Foxes, I believe a lot of positives can be drawn from that first half performance and hopefully Wednesday night’s form will be carried into the league as well. Prior to their postponed EPL matches Leicester had only managed to two wins in their last five matches - both of which were against teams in the relegation zone. If they could follow-up their impressive performance against Liverpool with another one against Manchester City it would be the perfect way to end off the year and potentially lead to a better campaign in the second half of the season.
Manchester City leads the head-to-head between the two teams in their last five EPL matches. The last two EPL matches have taken place at the King Power with City emerging as victors in both. However, the Foxes will certainly remember their last outing to the Etihad in September last year where they stormed to a 5-2 victory which included a hat-trick by Jamie Vardy. This seven goal thriller came as a big surprise as clashes between the sides tend to be low-scoring with four out of the last six matches featuring two goals or less.
Prediction
Although Manchester City have been absolutely dominating in the EPL, it’s important to remember that their last two matches came against two of the weakest teams in the league. I cannot help but feel that Leicester just might have a bit of a chance in this game. I am not confident at backing them to win, but I definitely don’t think Pep’s men will be dishing out another hiding on Sunday and Leicester might just be able to hold them to a narrow win or possibly even force a draw. The Foxes’ performance on Wednesday really impressed me with their three quick first half goals, but at the same time Manchester City’s defense has been really tight recently and I don’t think they can get off to a flying start like they did in that match.
They should be able to put at least one past the Citizens though and for that reason I am happy to bet on both teams to score in the match which you can get for around even money. I do think the Foxes can keep this game tight, but perhaps a win or a draw is too farfetched so I will have a bit of a value bet on Manchester City to win by a margin of one goal. With goalscorers I will also look for some value by backing Vardy to score in the match. The striker managed to score three in his last trip to the Etihad and I reckon he’s found some form again after his double on Wednesday against Liverpool.
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