Leicester v Fulham: prediction, betting preview and free tip

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Leicester v Fulham in the Premier League on Monday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event, 5.30pm Monday

Best bet

Leicester-Leicester double result
1pt 11-8 general

Team news

Leicester
The Foxes remain without injured quartet Ricardo Pereira, Caglar Soyuncu, Wilfred Ndidi and Daniel Amartey.

Fulham
Aboubakar Kamara returns from suspension but defenders Terence Kongolo and Kenny Tete are still sidelined.

Match preview

Leicester were unable to lay a glove on injury-hit Liverpool at Anfield last weekend, but the Foxes can pick themselves up off the canvas and land an early blow on Fulham at the King Power Stadium.

That 3-0 defeat at Liverpool, who were missing three of their usual back four and the influential duo Jordan Henderson and Mohamed Salah, was enough to suggest a title challenge may be out of the Foxes' reach.

However, the scrap for the Champions League places is certainly up for grabs and this a match Brendan Rodgers' men ought to be winning if those ambitions remain a realistic goal.

Prior to being outclassed on Merseyside, Leicester had triumphed in three consecutive Premier League games against Arsenal, Leeds and Wolves and they were also emphatic 5-2 winners over Manchester City at the Etihad.

The Foxes are clearly at their most devastating when they are able to utilise the pace of Jamie Vardy and Harvey Barnes on the counter-attack, but the scalps of Burnley (4-2) and West Brom (3-0) show they can also dictate the tempo against lesser-quality opposition.

And Fulham, who occupy a relegation place having collected just four points from their opening nine games, definitely fall into that category.

The Cottagers are showing signs of improvement in attack since the loan swoops of Chelsea's Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ademola Lookman from Leipzig, but their consistently slow starts and frequent defensive errors ought to worry manager Scott Parker.

It took Everton just 42 seconds to breach Fulham's flimsy defence in the capital last weekend, with all three Toffees goals coming inside a frantic opening 35 minutes.

That was the fifth time from just nine top-flight games this season in which Fulham had been trailing at the break - the Cottagers also shipped inside the first ten minutes of defeats against Arsenal, Leeds, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace.

Parker was extremely critical of his team’s first-half display at home to Everton. He said: "A reaction in the second half should not have to come from a rollicking at half-time." And such frustrations may again come to light at Leicester.

Rodgers' men took just 15 minutes to break the deadlock in their latest home victory over Wolves and they were ahead inside three minutes in their 4-1 stroll at Leeds prior to that.

And the Foxes, looking to put last weekend's uncharacteristically poor performance well behind them, may also be able to set the tone early against tardy starters Fulham.

Key stat

Fulham have lost 19 of their last 23 Premier League away matches.

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