Having seen their Europa Conference League hopes crash and burn at the Stadio Olimpico, Leicester City resume the remainder of their Premier League campaign with Sunday's visit of Everton at the King Power Stadium.
The Foxes were eliminated from continental competition after a 1-0 second-leg semi-final loss to Roma, while the Toffees most recently won by the same scoreline against Chelsea.
Match preview
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While many Foxes fans will feel aggrieved at the performance of the officials in Rome, Jose Mourinho's cup-winning mentality proved too difficult for Leicester to overcome at the Stadio Olimpico, with the Giallorossi's English hero Tammy Abraham propelling his side to the showpiece event.
Following a 1-1 draw in the first leg at the King Power, Abraham's bullet header flew past Kasper Schmeichel into the back of the net with 11 minutes gone to condemn Brendan Rodgers's men to a miserable journey back home, as Roma set up a showpiece meeting with Dutch giants Feyenoord.
It has not been too much of a surprise to see Leicester's domestic fortunes suffer a nosedive amid their continental quest, but it is now six games without success in all tournaments for the Foxes, who went down 3-1 to Tottenham Hotspur in their most recent Premier League battle.
It would take a remarkable set of circumstances for the 11th-placed Foxes to break into the top seven now, as a 10-point chasm separates them from West Ham United, although they do boast games in hand on almost all of the teams around them.
However, Rodgers's side will seemingly be condemned to a season without European football next term, but they do bring a 10-game unbeaten home run into Sunday's clash - winning three of their last four on their own turf in the Premier League.
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Coming up against the man who replaced him in the Stamford Bridge dugout did not phase Frank Lampard by any stretch, as the Blues legend and former boss witnessed his side dig deep and hold on to a slender 1-0 lead against Thomas Tuchel's side at Goodison Park.
Richarlison's strike and the heroics of Jordan Pickford got the Toffees over the line last weekend, with the latter producing one of the saves of the season to thwart Cesar Azpilicueta and ensure that survival would remain in their own hands with four games left to play.
Everton remain in the relegation zone before the weekend's fixtures commence but are only two points adrift of both Leeds United and Burnley having played a game fewer, with the latter facing a difficult trip to Arsenal on Sunday after Burnley meet Aston Villa a day earlier.
The Toffees' recent resilience has come to the fore in front of their own fans of late, but they bring a seven-game Premier League losing run away from home into Sunday's game and have taken a meagre six points on the road all season - unsurprisingly a league low.
Lampard's side have also conceded at least two goals in all of their away games since the turn of the year, but they won 2-0 at the King Power in December 2020 and left it very late to snatch a 1-1 draw against Leicester on Merseyside only a couple of weeks ago.
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Team News
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Leicester came through the second-leg loss to Roma unscathed but are still working without long-term absentees Ryan Bertrand and Wilfred Ndidi, while Jamie Vardy's fitness will also need to be assessed.
The games are still coming thick and fast for the Foxes, so Rodgers should ring the changes for Sunday as Timothy Castagne and Caglar Soyuncu aim to earn recalls to the backline.
Kelechi Iheanacho may start up top with Vardy likely being consigned to the bench after playing the full 90 against Roma, and there could be a spot for Boubakary Soumare in the middle after Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's recent injury woes.
Meanwhile, Everton were handed a slight scare when Richarlison had to be taken off in the dying embers of the win over Chelsea, but the Brazilian was merely suffering from cramp and will be fine for Sunday assuming he can also shake off a sore ankle. Andre Gomes is also back in the visitors' squad.
The same cannot be said for Ben Godfrey, Nathan Patterson and Andros Townsend, though, while Lampard still has concerns over Donny van de Beek's groin problem.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin was an unused substitute in the win over Chelsea and may be restricted to watching from the dugout here as well, with Lampard surely seeing no reason to change a side that took down the European champions.
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Pereira, Soyuncu, Fofana, Castagne; Tielemans, Soumare; Albrighton, Maddison, Barnes; Iheanacho
Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Coleman, Holgate, Mina; Iwobi, Delph, Doucoure, Mykolenko; Gordon, Richarlison, Gray
We say: Leicester City 1-1 Everton
Everton are playing out of their skin right now and have given the Goodison Park faithful plenty to cheer in recent matches, but their abysmal away form makes it difficult to envisage the Toffees claiming another priceless three points here.
A wounded Leicester with numerous options for change are a dangerous proposition, but Thursday night's long journey home could see a well-rested and inspired Everton claim a second score draw in the space of a month versus the Foxes, who have little to fight for in the final few weeks.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats, suggests the most likely outcome of this match is a Leicester City win with a probability of 65.41%. A draw has a probability of 19.4% and a win for Everton has a probability of 15.22%.
The most likely scoreline is Leicester City 2-0 Everton with a probability of 10.43% and the second most likely scoreline is Leicester City 2-1 Everton with a probability of 9.87%.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
