Leicester City came back from behind to beat Crystal Palace 2-1 on Monday and after just three days of rest, the Foxes will be back in the Premier League, this time facing Southampton.
With the win vs Palace, Leicester have managed to consolidate their third spot on the table and if they can pick up all three points against the Saints as well then they go seven points clear of the fourth-placed side.
Leicester knocked Southampton out of the FA Cup semi-finals earlier this month and the Saints go into this game in woeful form, having lost 12 of their last 15 matches in the Premier League.
The Foxes, on the other hand, have picked up three wins in their past five league matches and have been in pretty great goal-scoring form in their away games. LCFC are definitely the favourites going into this match and given they have a long break after this, Brendan Rodgers will not shy away from naming his strongest side on Friday night.
Leicester City team news vs Southampton:
Jonny Evans, Fofana and Soyuncu have formed a great partnership in defence and Rodgers will stick with the same pairing despite them playing the full 90 minutes on Monday.
Tielemans and Ndidi will pair up in defensive midfield meaning Hamza Choudhury will start on the bench once again. Marc Albrighton will be pushing for a start but it’s Ricardo Pereira who’s likely to get the nod vs the Saints.
Castagne played as the right wing-back against Palace on Monday but the 25-year-old will move to the left-hand side this time around.
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Harvey Barnes underwent another surgery and the manager has confirmed that he will be ruled out until the summer.
Brendan Rodgers said earlier this week: “We’ve had a slight setback with Harvey. He’s just gone in to have a second, minor operation, just to clear up some of the damage in his knee.
“It will probably rule him out for the rest of the season, but the plan is really to get him through this second little operation and then he’ll be back for pre-season and fit and ready for next season.”
Ayoze Perez will also be pushing for a start after coming off the bench in that 2-1 win but it’s James Maddison who will play in the No 10 role on Friday as well. Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy are obvious choices as the two front men for Leicester City.
Stats via Whoscored.
