Leicester City Vs Wolves Preview

VAR prevented us from winning both fixtures against Leicester last season.

The offside against Pedro Neto at Molineux would probably still have been given this season but I don’t think Willy Boly would have been penalised for the handball that meant Leander Dendoncker’s goal at the King Power was chalked off.

Those marginal decisions are important because there’s very little to choose between the sides – a view reinforced by their respective league positions in recent years.

Both clubs are right up there again so a win for either would be a significant result.

Wolves have had a full week to prepare, which should bode well from our perspective with new players still learning their roles.

Leicester

The Foxes have played twice since we beat Palace last Friday, securing two brilliant wins against Leeds and then Braga in the Europa League, scoring 4 goals in each.

Jamie Vardy is still the main man and it was little surprise he was rested last night to keep him fresh for the Premier League, where he’s already netted seven times to take up a familar place towards the top of the goalscoring charts.

If he does get on the scoresheet Sunday it will be a collectors item, as I don’t think he’s scored against Wolves before, but correct me if I’m wrong.

Their rapid start to the season is all the more impressive given the injuries they’ve had to contend with to key personnel like Perreira, Soyuncu and most recently Jonny Evans, who may sit this one out.

High profile wins at Man City and Arsenal underline they’re a force to be reckoned with and like Wolves, the only really aberration was a heavy defeat to West Ham.

Brendan Rogers is doing a great job, which is hardly a surprise given that he’s been successful wherever he’s been. They’ll be targeting the top four and will be there or thereabouts again, having somehow contrived to throw it away last season.

The home end

Some views lifted from the pre-match thread on the Foxes Talk forum.

Massive game. Could put us top of the league before a well needed rest and a huge game against Liverpool. I’d actually go as far as saying season defining. We’ve done it away, let’s do it at home. This could genuinely make us a serious top 4 contender. Forget winning it again, for now. Games like this are what we have to win to be up there.

This is the game we’ll learn the most from. Rodgers has performed far better than I thought so far but if we beat them we’ve properly turned the corner. The onus is on us in this one and they’re obviously incredibly belligerent – I’d be hesitant to play 352/343 because it’ll suit them. Injuries might force us into it though.

I would expect a “chess match” feel to this game, a bit like an old school Serie A game on Channel 4 for those old enough to remember. It may well have 0-0 written all over it, though to be honest I don’t think that’s a bad result. Obviously I want us to win but with the way we are playing, we are going to pick up lots of points this season. So as long as we keep picking up points, be it draws or wins I think that’s only good for our final league position.

I never like playing Wolves, feel that our game plan plays into their hands. We definitely need to be cagey and try and force them to come out more.

This will be a proper test against a side who don’t come out and love to play a direct style on the counter attack at pace. Most the sides we’ve beaten in the league are sides who like to press us (except Burnley) so it’ll be interesting to see how we come against a side intending to make it a cagey affair for us. Villa and west ham both got joy with that intention. 

Wolves

I would be surprised if we didn’t see the same team that accounted for Palace with a degree of comfort.

It was an exciting debut from Ait-Nouri and Semedo was also very effective. But that narrow Palace shape helped them so this will be a much greater test. Our wingbacks are so important to the system so we need them affecting the game.

Neves and Moutinho have been rotated a few times, but you’d hope it’s Ruben that nails down a consistent place if we’re trying to build a team for the foreseeable future. Both he and Dendoncker were excellent last week.

Confidence shouldn’t be in short supply for the front three, so hopefully, they can get in the game and do the damage again. I don’t think Raul has scored against Leicester yet so hopefully it’s another victim checked off the list.

Predictions

Congratulations to Zarco, Stafford Road Steve, Matt Cook, Pauluswolf, Wolvo Dave, oldandwise, CHEESEBURGER OF DEATH, Happy Wanderer, Dandy Wolf, WokyWolf, Mark G Davies, Tipton Exile, The Dodgster, Liz, GoWolves, Mosman Wolf, robc306 and Deptford Wolf who all got a maximum by correctly predicting the score against Palace.

Graham from Horsham has the outright lead in the overall table at the end of Gameweek 7.

As always if you’d like to join in, simply leave your prediction for this game in the comment section below, which is where you’ll find my best guess.

Up The Wolves!

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