Still searching for their first Premier League win of the season, Leicester City welcome Bournemouth to the King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The two teams last butted heads in February when the Foxes secured a 1-0 away victory after extra time in the FA Cup fifth round, courtesy of a goal from Abdul Fatawu.
Match preview
After drawing back-to-back Premier League games with Crystal Palace and Everton, as well as scraping past Walsall on penalties in the EFL Cup, Leicester looked on course to claim a respectable point at Arsenal last weekend.
James Justin netted a superb second-half brace to cancel out earlier strikes from Gunners duo Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard, but the Foxes were unable to hold on and conceded twice in stoppage time, losing 4-2 at the Emirates Stadium.
Steve Cooper, who is yet to win over large sections of the Leicester fanbase since joining in the summer, stated after the match that it 'felt cruel' to drop points so late in the contest, but "there was so much to be positive about" in the eyes of the Welshman.
The Foxes are currently hovering just above the relegation zone on goal difference after collecting three points from their opening six games. They have both scored and conceded in every match thus far and the only team to have a longer such run but remain winless at the start of a Premier League season are Derby County in 2000-01 (eight).
Ending this streak with a victory on Saturday could prove challenging for Leicester, as they have only won one of their last 12 Premier League games against Bournemouth, while Cooper has faced no team more often in his managerial career without ever celebrating a victory than the Cherries (D2 L3).
Bournemouth bounced back from consecutive Premier League defeats without reply to Chelsea and Liverpool by beating South Coast rivals Southampton 3-1 at the Vitality Stadium on Monday night.
The Cherries blew their visitors away in the first half, taking a three-goal lead into the interval after Evanilson, Dango Ouattara and Antoine Semenyo all made the net ripple. Taylor Harwood-Bellis pulled on back for the Saints shortly after half time, but it proved little more than a consolation.
Sitting 11th in the Premier League table, Andoni Iraola's side have now won two, drawn two and lost two of their opening six games and will hope to pick up three more points from a favourable-looking fixture against Leicester before they prepare for tricky tests against Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester City in the coming weeks.
Bournemouth head into Saturday's contest having won each of their last three Premier League meetings with Leicester by an aggregate score of 7-2 - their joint-longest run against the Foxes in their league history (also three between 1987 and 1989).
The Cherries' away form leaves a little to be desired, though, as they have come out on top in just three of their last 13 matches on the road - all three of those have been celebrated since the beginning of April, while two of those victories have come against teams in the relegation zone.
Team News
Leicester will have to cope without Patson Daka, Jakub Stolarczyk (both ankle) and Hamza Choudhury (dislocated shoulder) due to injury, but Jannik Vestergaard has resumed training and could be named in the matchday squad.
A back four of Justin, Wout Faes, Caleb Okoli and Victor Kristiansen is set to remain intact, even though the Foxes are conceding an average of two goals per game this season.
Bilal El Khannouss could replace fellow summer signing Oliver Skipp and operate in a central attacking position in behind veteran striker Jamie Vardy, who has scored seven goals in 14 meetings with Bournemouth.
As for Bournemouth, their only injury concern is with midfielder Tyler Adams (back), who will be targeting a return to the first-team fold after the international break.
Evanilson scored his first goal for the club on Monday following his club-record summer transfer and the Brazilian is poised to lead the line once again, with support provided in attack by Semenyo, Marcus Tavernier and one more of Ouattara or Justin Kluivert or Luis Sinisterra.
Julian Araujo could be recalled to start at right-back at the expense of Adam Smith, joining Illia Zabarnyi, Marcos Senesi and Milos Kerkez in a four-man defence, while Lewis Cook and Ryan Christie link arms again in midfield.
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Hermansen; Justin, Faes, Okoli, Kristiansen; Winks, Ndidi; Fatawu, El Khannouss, Mavididi; Vardy
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Kepa; Araujo, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez; Cook, Christie; Semenyo, Tavernier, Ouattara; Evanilson
We say: Leicester City 1-2 Bournemouth
Both teams will view this fixture as a good opportunity to pick up maximum points and head into the international break on a high. Cooper is desperate to claim his first league win as Leicester boss, but he may have to wait a little while longer as we are backing the Cherries to prevail against a defensively-frail Foxes outfit at the King Power.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
body check tags ::
Previews by email
