Leicester City and PSV Eindhoven will meet in the Europa Conference League quarter-finals on Thursday evening with both clubs feeling confident about winning the competition in May.
At a time when Leicester have been on an improved run in the Premier League, PSV have fallen four points adrift of Ajax in the Eredivisie title race.
Match preview
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Heading into their playoff tie with Randers back in February, there was speculation regarding Brendan Rodgers's long-term future at Leicester after his team's struggles in the Premier League.
However, since that contest, the Foxes have recorded six wins and a draw from 10 games in all competitions, their greater confidence on show during a 1-1 draw at Manchester United on Saturday evening.
Although Leicester remain down in 10th position in the table, there is a feeling that they are back on an upward trajectory, even with back-to-back defeats coming against Arsenal and Rennes last month.
In the latter of those games, Leicester had to withstand fierce pressure from their French opponents to book their place in the quarter-finals of this tournament, a 2-1 reverse being enough to progress 3-2 on aggregate.
Leicester have also gone six matches without suffering defeat at the King Power Stadium, the last setback coming against Tottenham Hotspur back on January 19.
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As far as PSV are concerned, they head into this fixture in their best form of the season, putting together a 13-match unbeaten streak in all competitions.
However, their Eredivisie title hopes took a significant hit at the weekend, Roger Schmidt's side having to hit back from three goals down to earn a late 3-3 draw at FC Twente.
Now four points adrift of Ajax, their best chance of silverware lies in other competitions, but PSV have had to battle hard to earn a place in the last eight.
Having only recorded a 4-4 draw at home to Copenhagen in the first leg of their last-16 tie, PSV went to Denmark and posted a 4-0 victory, Eran Zahavi scoring three of the last five goals in that tie.
The Dutch giants are making their first trip to England for a competitive fixture since losing 2-1 to Tottenham Hotspur in the 2018-19 Champions League group stages.
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Team News
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Leicester will be forced into at least one change from the weekend with Nampalys Mendy not eligible to feature in Europa Conference League fixtures.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall could drop back into a deeper position to partner Youri Tielemans, with one of Daniel Amartey or Hamza Choudhury also an alternative.
Jonny Evans should retain his place in the middle of the backline if he shakes off an issue with his calf, while Marc Albrighton may be brought back into the team on the right-hand side.
PSV will have to make do with Erick Gutierrez, who is serving a one-match ban having accumulated three yellow cards in this competition.
Marco van Ginkel could be given a start in midfield in his absence, while Noni Madueke and Cody Gakpo are both pushing for recalls after impressing as substitutes against Twente.
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Justin, Fofana, Evans, Castagne; Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall; Albrighton, Maddison, Barnes; Iheanacho
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Drommel; Junior, Teze, Boscagli, Max; Gutierrez, Sangare; Madueke, Gotze, Gakpo; Zahavi
We say: Leicester City 2-1 PSV Eindhoven
This tie has an open feel to it and we feel that both fixtures should prove to be entertaining. On Thursday, however, home advantage could prove key for Leicester, who we think will run out victors by the odd goal in three.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a PSV Eindhoven win with a probability of 38.38%. A win for Leicester City had a probability of 38.16% and a draw had a probability of 23.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a PSV Eindhoven win was 1-2 with a probability of 8.37%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (6.57%) and 0-2 (5.25%). The likeliest Leicester City win was 2-1 (8.34%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.46%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 4.1% likelihood.
