Manchester City v Leicester: prediction, team news, odds and free tip

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Manchester City v Leicester City in the Premier League.

Where to watch

Live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event, 5.30pm Saturday

Best bet

Man City to win & both teams to score
1pt 8-5 Betway, BoyleSports
Back this tip with Coral

Team news

Manchester City
Sergio Aguero (thigh) is back in training but may lack match fitness. David Silva (knock) should be back in the squad but Aymeric Laporte, Leroy Sane (both knee) and John Stones (thigh) are out.

Leicester
No fresh injury problems have been reported.

Match preview

Leicester have collected one point more than they had at the same stage of their 2015-16 title-winning season but they are ten adrift of Premier League leaders Liverpool and unlikely to reduce the gap when they face Manchester City at the Etihad.

If the title race is going to get exciting, Liverpool will have to go through a sticky patch.

And if the Reds hit the buffers, the markets expect third-placed City rather than Leicester to provide the main challenge.

Despite being 14 points adrift, City are just 7-1 to retain their title, while Leicester are 40-1 shots for a second stunning success.

Bookmakers assume that Leicester may struggle to maintain such high standards and there were signs of a dip in performance last weekend when Brendan Rodgers' side drew 1-1 at home to Norwich.

Dropping points to the Canaries can happen as City know after they were vanquished 3-2 at Carrow Road in September.

But Leicester's draw with Norwich was a fair outcome and a result that had been coming for a while after the Foxes made hard work of securing home victories over Everton (2-1) and Watford (2-0).

It is arguable Leicester are better suited to playing away from home, due to their sturdy defence - their 11 goals conceded is the lowest in the division - and the pace and quality of Jamie Vardy up front.

Since losing 2-1 at Liverpool in October they have won their last four Premier League away matches by an aggregate of 17-1.

However, Rodgers' side have taken just one point from three visits to teams in the current top six and will be well aware of the difficulty of taking on the league's leading scorers.

City 47-goal tally is just one less than at the same stage of the 2018-19 campaign.

They remain one of the most potent attacking teams in the world but are having major problems at the back due to the departure of Vincent Kompany and Aymeric Laporte's long-term injury.

Fernandinho has done a reasonable job in defence and probably demonstrated greater reliability than John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi.

But the Brazilian has been sorely missed in midfield and City's powers of resistance are clearly diminished because their goals conceded tally of 19 is just four fewer than the 23 goals they shipped over the whole of last season.

Such defensive frailties may be exposed by a Leicester team established as one of the division's most dangerous counter-attacking units.

However, City's top-class forwards and their high-quality bench – which may be reinforced by the returns of David Silva and Sergio Aguero – should give them the advantage.

There may be plenty of goals to warm up the crowd but Kaspar Schmeichel is likely be the busier keeper, ensuring decent value for those backing City to win and both teams to score.