Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers essentially has the chance to eliminate his former club, Liverpool, from the Premier League title race on Saturday.
Or not. From comments made by current Reds boss Jurgen Klopp and defender Andy Robertson, the reigning champs have already conceded the defense of their crown, and have now relegated themselves to the idea of playing for a top four finish this season.
Liverpool FC at Leicester City FYIs
Kickoff: 12:30 pm GMT Sat. Feb 13, King Power Stadium
Liverpool Team News: go here, Starting XI Prediction: go here
Leicester City team news: go here
TV: NBCSN, Online: NBCSports.com
Premier League Form Guide: Leicester City DWLDW Liverpool LLWWL
Ahead of yesterday’s FA Cup win versus Brighton, Rodgers discussed his potential rotation and lineup for this one.
“From a scientific perspective, you can’t use the same players every single game,” he said. “As much as you would want to play some players in certain games, you can’t because of the close proximity of other games.
“You want energy and enthusiasm and freshness going into every game, hence why you have to make changes.”
Leicester City Starting Predicted XI (4-2-3-1) vs Liverpool FC:
Kasper Schmeichel, Ricardo Pereira, Jonny Evans, Caglar Soyuncu, Christian Fuchs, Youri Tielemans, Wilfred Ndidi, Cengiz Under, James Maddison, Harvey Barnes, Jamie Vardy
Prediction: Leicester City 2, Liverpool FC 1
With Liverpool coming off a 4-1 loss, at home, to champions-elect Manchester City, they fell for the third straight time at home. Anfield is a fortress no more. Meanwhile Leicester’s goalless draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers was pretty uninspiring, and it left the Foxes with just one win in their last four league outings.
In other words, this is a match where both sides really need a win right now.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.