English Premier
2024-12-26 - Liverpool vs Leicester City
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Thursday 26th December 2024 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV
Liverpool
It was another good weekend for Liverpool who guaranteed they would be sitting on top on Christmas Day even before kicking off at Tottenham Hotspur in the last Premier League fixture on Sunday. Going on and winning that game 3-6 has helped extend the lead that has been created as we approach the halfway mark in the current campaign and with Liverpool looking very strong.
The lead is now back up to 4 points following Chelsea's draw at Goodison Park, while Liverpool also have a game in hand over their title rivals. When this fixture kicks off, the gap might have been trimmed by a Chelsea team playing in a 3pm time-slot on Boxing Day, but Arne Slot will only be concerned about helping Liverpool improve their 6-1-1 record at Anfield in the top flight.
Liverpool have extended their unbeaten run to 21 games in all competitions, while the win over Tottenham Hotspur snapped the run of back to back draws in the Premier League. Defensive issues might be of some concern from recent matches, and Liverpool saw their 9 game winning run at Anfield halted in a 2-2 draw with Fulham most recently.
Conor Bradley and Ibrahima Konate are the only absentees for Liverpool ahead of this final home game of the 2024 calendar year.
Leicester City
The tenure begun so well for Ruud van Nistelrooy, but the 0-3 home defeat to relegation rivals Wolves has served as a massive reminder of the kind of achievement it would be if he could keep Leicester City in the Premier League. This is a squad lacking real quality and the January transfer window feels key if van Nistelrooy and the board really believe consolidation is possible.
A heavy home loss to a relegation rival is rarely going to go down well and Leicester City are 17th in the Premier League table with just 2 points between themselves and 19th placed Ipswich Town. Now they have to travel to the Christmas Premier League leaders and Leicester City hold a 1-2-5 away record this season.
Leicester City beat West Ham United and then fought back from 0-2 down to earn a 2-2 draw with Brighton, but have followed up with heavy defeats to Newcastle United and Wolves to end the Ruud van Nistelrooy honeymoon period. A late goal earned Leicester City a 1-1 draw at Portman Road, but they have lost 3 away Premier League games since then and conceded 11 goals in that run.
Mads Hermansen is a big part of the Leicester City squad, but the goalkeeper is a doubt for this Boxing Day fixture.
Head to Head
Liverpool beat Leicester City 3-1 at Anfield in the League Cup last season.
They have won 4 straight home League games against this opponent.
Prediction
There has been a real structure to the way that Liverpool have played under Arne Slot and the new manager has built on what Jurgen Klopp left behind.
Even then, the most optimistic Liverpool fan could not have expected to be 4 points clear and with a game in hand on Christmas Day and there is a lot of confidence that will be taken into 2025.
The final game at Anfield in 2024 looks like it could be a one-sided contest when Liverpool host Leicester City and the layers are taking no chances with the prices.
While the Premier League leaders thumped six past Tottenham Hotspur, earlier in the day Leicester City were being beaten 0-3 by relegation rivals Wolves at the King Power Stadium. Ruud van Nistelrooy has to be very aware of the task at hand in keeping Leicester City in the Premier League and he needs vast improvements defensively if they are going to do that.
Three away League defeats in a row have seen Leicester City concede 11 goals and all of those losses have been by three or more goal margins. They have lost on plenty of recent visits to Anfield and this Leicester City team have not got the same quality as previous teams that have visited and it would be a huge surprise if this is not a routine home victory.
Of course the hope for Leicester City is that Liverpool have had too much stuffing on Christmas Day, but the reality is that the away team are going to have to be fairly fortunate to escape a stuffing of their own.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Liverpool 4-0 Leicester City
