Manchester City Vs Leicester City Premier League Football Match Score 2023
Manchester City will try to cut into Arsenal’s lead atop the Premier League table when the club hosts Leicester City on Saturday at Etihad Stadium in Manchester. Manchester City enter the weekend in second place in the EPL standings with 67 points. They are six points behind Arsenal, which play at West Ham on Sunday. Meanwhile, Leicester City enter Saturday’s showdown in danger of being relegated, sitting 19th in the table with 25 points. The Foxes will be playing its first game under caretaker manager Dean Smith.
Manchester City have arguably the best goal scorer in the world in Erling Haaland. The 22-year-old striker from Norway already has broken the single-season record for goals by a Premier League player across all competitions with 45. He broke the record of 44 previously held by former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy and Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah.
In addition, Man City play a Leicester side that has struggled with form lately. The Foxes are winless over their last nine matches (eight losses and one draw). They have been outscored 16-5 over that stretch, which doesn’t bode well against a Manchester City side that leads the league with 75 goals.
The Foxes have one of the best midfielders in the league in James Maddison. The 26-year-old has nine goals and six assists despite playing in just 23 games this season. The last time he played at Manchester City, Maddison scored a goal and registered five shots. With a goal on Saturday, he would become just the third visiting player to score at Etihad Stadium in three straight seasons.
In addition, Leicester faces a Man City side that may not be completely focused on Saturday’s match. Four days after playing the Foxes, City square off against Bayern Munich in the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal matchup. Man City enter that leg with a 3-0 lead in aggregate. Manchester City will endeavour to claim their 10th successive victory in all competitions when they welcome Leicester City to the Etihad Stadium for a Premier League clash on Saturday.
While the Citizens are seeking to close in on top-flight leaders Arsenal, the Foxes have brought in manager Dean Smith to pull them away from the hotly-contested relegation dogfight. Man City have boosted their hopes of winning the treble this season following a successful week in both the Premier League and Champions League, with back-to-back victories over Southampton and Bayern Munich. Their latest triumph took place at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, with goals from Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Erling Braut Haaland securing a commanding 3-0 quarter-final first-leg win over their Bavarian counterparts to put them on the brink of reaching their third successive Champions League semi-final.
Haaland also scored twice for the Citizens three days earlier in a 4-1 victory at St Mary’s, and that result coupled with Arsenal dropping points in a 2-2 draw at Liverpool has seen Pep Guardiola’s men move to within six points of the Premier League leaders, who have played a game more. Man City have put together a strong run of form at the right time and have particularly found their groove in attack, as they have scored 24 goals in their last five games across all competitions, netting at least three times on each occasion.
The Citizens head into Saturday’s clash having won 10 of their last 12 Premier League encounters with Leicester and were involved in a nine-goal thriller in their last home meeting with the Foxes, winning 6-3 in December 2021. Another victory for Man City would help maintain their impressive momentum heading into an important period in their season, with a Champions League second-leg tie in Germany and a trip to Wembley for an FA Cup semi-final with Sheffield United to come next week.
Eight days after the departure of Brendan Rodgers, Leicester announced on Tuesday the appointment of Dean Smith as the club’s new manager on a short-term deal until the end of the season. The former Aston Villa and Norwich City boss – who was sacked by the latter in December – has added former Foxes coach Craig Shakespeare and John Terry to his backroom staff and has eight games to steer the 2015-16 Premier League champions away from the relegation zone.
A miserable run of seven defeats and one draw in their last eight matches, including a 1-0 home loss to relegation rivals Bournemouth last weekend, has seen Leicester slip to 19th in the Premier League table, two points adrift of safety. Smith begins his reign with one of the toughest challenges in English football against an in-form Man City outfit, and the 52-year-old is fully aware of the daunting test that he and his new side are set to face having lost all of his previous six meetings against the Citizens as a manager, with his teams conceding 19 goals in the process.
Leicester have lost each of their last four Premier League matches against Man City, although they frustrated the reigning champions at times in their most recent meeting, only for a stunning Kevin De Bruyne free kick to condemn the Foxes to a narrow 1-0 home defeat in October. A spirited and resilient display is required on Saturday if they wish to avoid a 20th league defeat of the campaign. Man City attacker Phil Foden remains sidelined as he continues to recover from appendicitis surgery, while De Bruyne is fit to feature after Guardiola played down fears that he sustained an injury against Bayern.
With one eye on next week’s Champions League tie in Germany, Guardiola will likely consider making some changes to his starting lineup, with Aymeric Laporte, Kyle Walker and Rico Lewis all pushing to start in defence. Haaland, who recently recovered from a groin injury, will likely see his minutes managed on Saturday, but the Premier League’s top scorer is expected to lead the line, while Riyad Mahrez will look to replace Bernardo Silva on the right flank.
As for Leicester, Harvey Barnes and Ricardo Pereira have both been ruled out with hamstring injuries and join James Justin and Ryan Bertrand (both knee) in the treatment room, but Smith has confirmed that Youri Tielemans will return to the matchday squad after recovering from an ankle problem. Jonny Evans watched on as an unused substitute last weekend after recovering from a thigh problem and the centre-back will be pushing to start ahead of either Daniel Amartey or Wout Faes. Smith could also stick with a back four having previously used a four-man defence against Man City during his time with both Villa and Norwich.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is available for selection after serving a one-match ban and he could be recalled to centre-midfield at the expense of Boubakary Soumare, while former Man City striker Kelechi Iheanacho will compete with Patson Daka and Jamie Vardy for a place in attack – the latter of whom has scored more league goals against Guardiola’s City side than any other player (eight) and is in line to make his 300th Premier League appearance for the Foxes.
