Our live stream ahead of Saturday night’s Premier League match, Leicester vs Southampton is now up, kicking off at 20.00 GMT
You can keep an eye on the commentary as it happens below, but first, we take a preview into the fixture, lineups, predictions and much more…
Brendan Rodgers surprised many Leicester supporters last weekend when he named a strong starting lineup for their FA Cup third-round fixture at Stoke City.
While James Maddison and Jamie Vardy were handed a rest, other key players contributed to a 4-0 victory over the Championship outfit, and it highlighted Rodgers’s desire to win silverware this season.
Priority remains on securing a place in next season’s Champions League, but Rodgers knows that winning the FA Cup or Europa League is not beyond this group of players.
With five tough fixtures to come before the end of January, balance will have to be found when it comes to managing workloads over the coming weeks.
Nevertheless, Rodgers has quality options in all areas of the pitch, and whoever is selected at the weekend will be expected to contribute to another three points.
The same can be said of Southampton with Ralph Hasenhuttl‘s squad having been provided with an unscheduled break from action last weekend.
Positive coronavirus tests within the Shrewsbury Town ranks gave the Saints squad a much-needed breather, although they now face the prospect of having to cram more fixtures into an already-packed schedule.
Hasenhuttl would have probably preferred to have played the tie on its intended date on the back of an outstanding 1-0 victory over champions Liverpool.
With three clean sheets having now been recorded in succession, Hasenhuttl will now be focused on extending Southampton’s unbeaten away record to eight matches.
The two clubs last met in January 2020 with the Saints winning 2-1 away at Leicester that to Danny Ings grabbing a late winner…
PRESS CONFERENCE:
Brendan Rodgers
On progression…
“They’re important games, but my focus is purely on the Southampton game,”
“This will be a tough examination for us.”
“You’ve seen their last result (a 1-0 victory over Liverpool), you see the games they’ve played. They’re always in tight games and they’ve got very good players, so it will be a big test for us.”
“We’re not even at the halfway point. I’m pretty calm, relaxed and pleased with where we’re at at this stage of the season, after the games and the injuries we’ve had.”
“I’ve been excited watching the team these last few weeks. In our last FA Cup game, I was really pleased with the performance level and we hope that can continue for the rest of the season.”
On Southampton…
“They’re very well organised,”
“You can see their organisation. They want to play on the front foot. They want to defend forward and press the game.”
“It doesn’t surprise me. When I analyse them, I can see their qualities. Through the team, from Alex McCarthy, who I know very well, is a very, very good goalkeeper.”
“Ryan Bertrand is a Champions League winner and has spent his career at the top level and was an England international player. [Kyle] Walker-Peters is on the other side.”
“He’s come in and settled very quickly because he’s a good player. Jack Stephens, I saw as a young player coming through, and again he’s acquitted himself very well in the Premier League.”
“He’s very good on the ball, he wants to defend. [James] Ward-Prowse in midfield has got great quality. Stuart Armstrong, I know very well. He’s a winner, he’s got power and he wants to score.”
“Theo Walcott played at the highest level and wants to score goals. Danny Ings, I know very, very well. His movement’s terrific, he can link the game, he can run in behind and he can finish.”
“If you look at that group of players themselves, it’s not rocket science. They’re very well organised, they’ve got an excellent manager and they work very hard.”
“When you put that alongside the quality, it makes them a very good team.”
On Kasper Schmeichel…
“I’d already seen him from the outside looking in,”
“We played against him when I was at Swansea and he was at Leeds as a young ‘keeper. “
“He’s so passionate about the game. He loves football. He prepares himself so well. His devotion and his mentality has really seen him excel at the highest level.”
“From a young player who played on loan in Scotland, to playing at Champions League level, to have over 50 caps for Denmark, he doesn’t get tired every day of doing the right things.”
“I can’t speak highly enough of him. He’s very vocal. His spirit’s very strong and he wants to win. He’s been a brilliant goalkeeper for me in my time here and obviously for the other managers before.”
“Ultimately, [shot-stopping] is your job as a goalkeeper,”
“But the game has evolved with the back-pass rule and teams building up more from behind.
“For me, Kasper, from knowing him as a young ‘keeper, you always knew he could kick the ball the full length of the pitch, but you can also see how good he is with his feet.”
Ralph Hasenhüttl
On turning to youngsters as injuries pile up…
“It was important that we stepped good in the week, with intense work on the pitch, with a lot of young players involved in the sessions,”
“They must immediately show up and help us get high quality in the sessions and then hopefully we find the right 11 for the weekend.”
“With a few injuries we have at the moment in a few positions, the chance is big that also young players get a chance from the beginning. So we have some issues because of the intense time we had over Christmas, and now we must find a squad that is competitive.”
“There was a reason why we tried in the summer to reconstruct all the academy and the Under-23 team and the way they should play, because we knew that in this season it can be that we have moments where we have a lot of young players in the first-team squad and then we have no time to teach them what they have to do – they have to have it and they have to know what it is about, and the more they learn in the youth about this, the easier it is for me to bring them in and this is now the moment where we do it, and this is ok.”
On break being beneficial…
“It was not so bad for us to have it,”
“It felt a little bit like an international break for everybody, also for the international players – they haven’t had a break since I don’t know when, so it was definitely good for them also. We used it for recovering and for getting some energy, and now we are back in training and back in business.
“The atmosphere is good. We need to step up immediately, build-up on the good defence that we had in the last games, also being more clinical when we have chances in front, and playing with the ball, I think against the next opponent this is also important. A good performance is always necessary to take points against Leicester.”
FORM:
Leicester City Premier League form: WLWDDW
Leicester City form (all competitions): LWDDWW
Southampton Premier League form: WDLDDW
LINEUPS:
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Justin, Fofana, Evans, Castagne; Ndidi, Tielemans; Albrighton, Maddison, Barnes; Vardy
Southampton possible starting lineup:
Forster, Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Stephens, Bertrand; Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Diallo, Walcott; Adams, Long
SPORTSMOLE PREDICTION:
Leicester City 2-2 Southampton
Given their attack-minded philosophies, we expect plenty of goals to be scored at the King Power Stadium.
While the Foxes are the favourites to prevail in the East Midlands, the extra rest could play its part in helping Southampton earn a point from an entertaining tussle.
Time to take a look at our Leicester vs Southampton live match stream as it happens…
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