Leicester City v Leeds United: Key battle, key man, YEP prediction in Jesse Marsch's first game

As Marsch's Whites face Brendan Rodgers and his Foxes side, here is the YEP's lowdown on the contest including key battle, Foxes key man and our prediction.

Date: Today

Time: 12.30pm

Venue: King Power Stadium

Odds (best available): Leicester win – 11-13, draw – 16-5, Leeds win – 10-3.

Last time the teams met at the King Power:

Sunday, January 31, 2021 - Premier League: Leicester City 1 (Barnes 13), Leeds United 3 (Dallas 15, Bamford 70, Harrison 84).

Key battle: Harvey Barnes v Raphinha

There are Leicester threats all over the pitch and tough midfielder Youri Tielemans is a particular class act whilst James Maddison is a huge danger offensively. But classy wingers Harvey Barnes and Raphinha are likely to be in combat down the same side of the pitch and a lot could depend on who has the most joy. Barnes tops the Foxes league assists charts this season with seven and the winger has also netted twice.

Foxes key man: Jamie Vardy

Leicester's talisman striker returned from just over two months out with a hamstring injury when coming on in the 72nd minute of Tuesday night's clash at Burnley in which heset up the opener for James Maddison and then netted himself to complete a 2-0 victory. Vardy will still be working his way up to peak match fitness but he's back available and a player with finishing skills like his will need watching like a hawk. Even after two months out, he remains Leicester's top league scorer on ten goals this term, three more than James Maddison.

Lee Sobot's verdict

A new era for Leeds and the first competitive game without Marcelo Bielsa in charge since Paul Heckingbottom oversaw the Championship 2-0 victory at home to QPR way back in May 2018. It's hard to know exactly what to expect under new boss Jesse Marsch following Bielsa's sacking but Marsch says there are a lot of similarities between his playing style and Bielsa's, one big difference being zonal or ball orientated marking as opposed to man to man. Fifth-bottom Leeds need a reaction after conceding 17 goals in four consecutive defeats and Leicester are a class act on their day. Yet the 12th-placed Foxes have only won one of their last six league games and a positive result for Leeds in Marsch's first game would not be the biggest surprise. Leicester City 1 Leeds United 2.

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