Liverpool vs Leicester City

Anfield is the venue as Liverpool and Leicester City go head-to-head in a lopsided Premier League encounter. 

Last weekend’s remarkable 6-3 win against Tottenham perhaps best illustrated Arne Slot’s magnificent start to life at Liverpool. The Reds re-established a four-point lead on second-placed Chelsea, courtesy of a 12th victory in 16 league matches this season (D3, L1). Welcoming Christmas as top-flight pacesetters for a record-breaking 21st time, Liverpool must be confident of lifting only their second title in the Premier League era. Indeed, they’ve done so on 11 of the previous 20 such occasions! Virtually unplayable at Anfield, they’ve only lost three of their last 69 home league outings (W52, D14), though they did draw against Fulham last time out. Further inspiration comes from Liverpool’s traditionally emphatic Boxing Day performances, as they’ve won seven consecutive games the day after Christmas via a combined score of 20-1.

Ominously for visiting Leicester City, they were on the receiving end twice in that sequence, contributing to their dreadful run of 17 losses across their last 25 H2Hs (W5, D3). Another heavy defeat is a distinct possibility for the Foxes despite Ruud van Nistelrooy’s promising two-game unbeaten start at the King Power (W1, D1). His men have since lost to Newcastle (4-0) and Wolverhampton (3-0), allowing 18th-placed Wolves to reduce the distance to only two points pre-round. Another disappointing result could see Leicester enter their last league game of 2024 in the bottom three. That’s a likely scenario unless the visitors find a way to defy an underwhelming three-game losing streak away from home. Each defeat in that spell yielded a losing margin of at least three goals!