ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PICK - LEICESTER CITY V SOUTHAMPTON

English Premier

2020-01-11 - Leicester City vs Southampton

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Leicester City v Southampton
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 11th January 2019 - Kick Off 3pm

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Leicester City

Brendan Rodgers was far from impressed with the level of performance produced by his Leicester City team in the First Leg of the League Cup Semi Final during the week, but the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa will still make his team favourites to reach Wembley. That will be resolved at the end of the month and before that Rodgers will be looking for much better from his players as they look to cement their place in the top four.

The Foxes are 2nd in the Premier League table and involved in both domestic Cup competitions as fans begin to get excited about what this season will end up bringing the club. A title challenge looks beyond Leicester City with 13 points between them and League leaders Liverpool, who also have a game in hand, but silverware and a Champions League place would be a huge achievement for the manager and the club. The side have a 7-2-1 record at the King Power Stadium where they have scored 19 goals and conceded 9 this season.

Leicester City bounced back from their back to back humblings at the hands of Manchester City and Liverpool to win 3 in a row in all competitions, but that run was ended in the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa during the week. The home form has been a little mixed of late as Leicester City have won 1 of their last 4 games here in all competitions and have been held to draws by Villa and Norwich City.

Wilfred Ndidi has been ruled out for a few weeks after suffering an injury in training, while James Maddison is a doubt this weekend after being hit in the head in injury time on Wednesday night.

Southampton

Ralph Hasenhuttl must be a fan of Wizzard and 'wish it was Christmas everyday' as his Southampton side produced a brilliant run of results over the festive period. After seemingly being on the brink of being sacked, Hasenhuttl now brings in a team who are sitting in mid-table and looking for revenge having been embarrassed at home by Leicester City earlier this season.

Positive Premier League form has moved Southampton up to 12th in the Premier League table and 5 points clear of the bottom three, while they also made progress in the FA Cup. The away form has to be respected with The Saints bringing in a 4-2-4 record into this League fixture having scored 14 goals and conceded 13 in those games.

Southampton are unbeaten in 5 games in all competitions which began in the final game before Christmas Day and more impressive is the fact they have won 4 of those fixtures. They have won their last couple of away Premier League games at Aston Villa and Chelsea and Southampton have scored in 12 consecutive away games in all competitions going back to the opening weekend of the season.

Yan Valery looks to be the only absentee in the Southampton squad.

Head to Head

An early sending off changed the face of the earlier meeting between these two clubs, but even then you would never have imagined Leicester City were going to win 0-9 at St Mary's.

Leicester City have not won any of their last 4 home games against Southampton and were beaten 1-2 in the League here last season.

Prediction

A strong festive period has dragged Southampton out of trouble in the Premier League although there is still work to be done if they are going to avoid relegation. Motivation should not be an issue this weekend though as Southampton look for revenge for being embarrassed by Leicester City a couple of months ago.

The early sending off of Ryan Bertrand certainly changed the entire complexion of the game at St Mary's, but no one would have predicted Leicester City were going to hit their hosts for NINE!!

Ralph Hasenhuttl believes it was the moment things changed for his team and he believes the character shown since then has been vital to Southampton's improvement. The Saints had a very good festive period when picking up 10 points from a possible 12, but the positive run goes a little deeper as they have won 5 of their last 8 Premier League games and also progressed to the FA Cup Fourth Round in that time.

They won't show any fear going to the King Power Stadium as Southampton have been productive away from home all season. The 4-2-4 away record in the League means Southampton have the most away wins out of any team that is not in the top four in the Division and that has to be respected by a Leicester City team who have lost a little consistency of late.

Teams are beginning to work out a better game plan against Leicester City and that has been particularly evident at the King Power Stadium where they have won 1 of their last 4 games in all competitions. That victory came against Championship strugglers Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup Third Round, but both Norwich City and Aston Villa have left with 1-1 draws here in that run of games.

Southampton have scored in 12 away games in a row in all competitions which includes visits to the Etihad Stadium (twice), Stamford Bridge, the Emirates Stadium, New White Hart Lane and Molineux and that is hard to ignore. They have also been unbeaten in 4 visits to Leicester City and that makes the home team look very short especially more so when you think they have had a match during the week while the visitors have been preparing to make amends for the embarrassment suffered at home.

Stopping Leicester City scoring looks beyond a Southampton team who had conceded in 7 away games in succession before the 0-2 win at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had enough chances that day and I think Leicester City will create opportunities for themselves here which makes backing both teams to score look the play.

If Southampton were getting more than a goal head-start on the Asian Handicap I would have been tempted, but the both teams to score market looks the most likely to produce a winner.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

I'll back Both Teams to Score @ 1.70 with Bet365

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