Premier League | Gameweek 17

Dec 22, 2024 at 2pm UK

King Power Stadium

Leicester City vs Wolves

Match preview

Many of the Premier League headlines last weekend were about Wolves, with their late collapse against Ipswich Town, the ugly scenes that followed after the final whistle and the sacking of O'Neil the following day.

O'Neil was given one more chance by the Wolves board to turn things around, but he failed to do so, conceding a 94th-minute goal in a 2-1 home defeat to the newly promoted side.

After the final whistle, for the second game in a row, there was a brawl between Wolves players which resulted in Rayan Ait-Nouri being shown a straight red card and Matheus Cunha being banned pending confirmation from the FA.

That was following Mario Lemina's outburst at West Ham United, which saw him stripped of the captaincy, but it is unclear whether that could be reinstated with Pereira now in charge and set to be on the sidelines for the trip to Leicester.

The Portuguese will be looking to end a run of four successive defeats, the last three of which have all come against clubs currently in the bottom seven.

Everton's 4-0 thrashing of them contributed to 29% of their goal tally this season, West Ham's victory saved their own manager's job and they handed Ipswich just their second win on their return to the top flight.

With another newly-promoted side up next, Wolves will be looking to avoid losing back-to-back games to such teams for the first time in over 40 years, as well as trying to make up the three points they gave Ipswich last weekend.

Only Barnsley in 1997-98 and Sheffield United a year ago have conceded more than Wolves' 40 goals in the opening 16 games of a Premier League season, with an astonishing 16 of those goals coming from free-kicks and corners.

Ruud van Nistelrooy's Leicester will be hoping to capitalise on that, and will still be reeling from last week's 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Newcastle United.

The Dutchman got off to a dream start, taking four points from his first two games against West Ham and Brighton to take his tally to 14 points, but there were some warning signs that should have been flashing before the defeat at St James' Park.

Van Nistelrooy is certainly more open and expansive than his predecessor Steve Cooper, with his team scoring five goals in two home games so far, compared to six in six under the Welshman, but the win over West Ham was a stunner and they needed two very late goals to salvage a point against Brighton.

Leicester have conceded 73 shots on goal in three games since Van Nistelrooy's arrival, which is simply unsustainable, especially when they are still relying on Jamie Vardy, who turns 38 next month, for so much of their attacking output.

The Foxes remain 17th in the table, but with Everton, Crystal Palace and West Ham all picking up points at the weekend, they will need to make the most of a favourable fixture here to catch up.

History suggests they will, as Leicester have an excellent record against Wolves and are unbeaten in their six Premier League home meetings, winning four and drawing two.

Even in the relegation season of 2022-23, Leicester completed the league double over Wolves, winning 4-0 at Molineux, while they have won five of the last six meetings at the King Power.

Recent Performance

Leicester City Premier League form:LLLWDL

Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League form:WWLLLL

Team News

Leicester will be sweating over the fitness of Mads Hermansen after he was forced off at half-time last week, with many fans less than impressed with his replacement Danny Ward, the man between the sticks during their relegation two seasons ago.

In midfield, Wilfred Ndidi is edging closer to a return from injury after Harry Winks missed out last weekend, while Boubakary Soumare will be available to Van Nistelrooy after serving his one-match ban last weekend.

Odsonne Edouard remains a doubt as he continues to recover from a recent setback, but Facundo Buonanotte should return to the starting XI after only being fit enough to come off the bench at Newcastle.

A new manager often means a new tactical shape, but Wolves' Pereira played with a back three at Al-Shabab, similar to O'Neil's formation before he was sacked.

Ait-Nouri is suspended after being shown a red card at the final whistle last weekend, and Cunha could face the same fate once an FA investigation is completed after he elbowed an Ipswich member of staff during the fracas.

Joao Gomes is back from suspension, while Boubacar Traore and Pablo Sarabia are also close to returning from injury, but Jose Sa could be left out of the squad even as he recovers from a shoulder problem.

Possible starting lineup

Leicester City possible starting lineup:

Ward; Justin, Vestergaard, Coady, Kristiansen; Soumare, Skipp; McAteer, Buonanotte, El Khannouss; Vardy

Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:

Johnstone; Nelson Semedo, Bueno, Toti; Doherty, Andre, Lemina, R Gomes; Joao Gomes, Cunha, Strand Larsen