Leicester City will aim to clinch the first win of the 2024/25 Premier League season when they welcome Bournemouth to the King Power Stadium on Saturday.
The 2024/25 Premier League season resumes this weekend with Gameweek 7, with the latest round of fixtures kicking off with the game between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at Selhurst Park. The action then continues with five simultaneous matches, including Leicester City vs Bournemouth at the King Power Stadium.
Leicester City would have hoped for a better start to the 2024/25 Premier League season after holding Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-1 draw in Gameweek 1. However, the Foxes have managed only two more points from their subsequent five games, with Steve Cooper reportedly not winning over many behind the scenes. While Leicester showed some promising signs last week against Arsenal, they suffered another defeat, going down 4-2 at the Emirates.
As for Bournemouth, they continue making waves under Andoni Iraola despite a few stinging results in the first few weeks of the 2024/25 Premier League season. The Cherries have won two, drawn two, and lost two games thus far this term. However, they returned to winning ways in Gameweek 6 by cruising to a 3-1 win over Southampton.
Bournemouth clinched a narrow 1-0 win over Leicester City in the most recent Premier League clash at the King Power Stadium featuring the teams. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
Leicester City
Steve Cooper has a new injury concern hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Leicester City manager will be bereft of the services of at least three first-team players vs Bournemouth.
Hamza Choudhury is the latest absentee after dislocating his shoulder this week in training. The 27-year-old midfielder has joined Jakub Stolarczyk (ankle) and Patson Daka (ankle) on the sidelines. However, there is some good news. Jannik Vestergaard is available again, although several unnamed players are nursing minor injuries.
Mads Hermansen is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Leicester City lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Bournemouth. The backline should feature James Justin, Wout Faes, Caleb Okoli, and Victor Kristiansen.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Harry Winks and Wilfred Ndidi, with the duo looking to keep things tight in the middle of the park. Bilal El Khannouss will reprise the no. 10 role, with Abdul Fatawu Issahaku and Stephy Mavididi being the two wide attackers. Finally, Jamie Vardy will lead the line for Leicester City against Bournemouth.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Hermansen; Justin, Faes, Okoli, Kristiansen; Winks, Ndidi; Fatawu, El Khannouss, Mavididi; Vardy
Bournemouth
Unlike his counterpart in the Leicester City dugout, Andoni Iraola does not have any new issues to deal with before the trip to the King Power Stadium. The Bournemouth manager will be without only one first-team player.
Tyler Adams is the only absentee, although the American midfielder is closing in on returning to action after recovering from a back injury. Otherwise, Iraola has a full-strength squad for this weekend’s Premier League clash.
Kepa Arrizabalaga is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Bournemouth lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Leicester City. The backline should feature Julian Araujo, Illia Zabarnyi, Marcos Senesi, and Milos Kerkez.
As for the midfield unit, Lewis Cook should pair up with Ryan Christie in the double pivot, while Marcus Tavernier will reprise the no. 10 role. Dango Ouattara and the in-form Antoine Semenyo should be the two wide attackers, with Evanilson spearheading the Bournemouth attack against Leicester City on Saturday.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Kepa; Araujo, Senesi, Zabarnyi, Kerkez; Cook, Christie; Semenyo, Tavernier, Ouattara; Evanilson
Key Stats
- Leicester City have won two games in 12 Premier League meetings vs Bournemouth, with both victories coming at the King Power Stadium in 2019: 2-0 in March and 3-1 in August.
- Failure to win on Saturday will mean Leicester City will equal their longest winless start to a Premier League season (seven games), which they set two years ago. The Foxes have scored and conceded in their six league outings thus far this season (D3 L3). Only Derby Country in 2000/01 had a longer run of doing both while remaining winless from the start of a Premier League campaign (first 8).
- Bournemouth have won only three of their last 13 away games in the Premier League, with two victories coming against teams in the relegation zone.
- Leicester City have faced a league-high 114 shots this season, including 34 against Arsenal – their most on record.
- Bournemouth have conceded in nine successive top-flight fixtures, their longest run without a clean sheet in the division since a 16-match streak between December 2019 and July 2020.
Player to Watch
Jamie Vardy
With Leicester City struggling to attain the desired results, they will look to their go-to man for over a decade for inspiration. Jamie Vardy might not be a spring chicken anymore, but he continues to make his mark in the final third for the Foxes.
The veteran striker began the season with a point-salvaging performance against Tottenham. While he has managed only one more goal in his five outings since then, Vardy is Leicester City’s best bet to get something from the game against Bournemouth this weekend.
Prediction
Leicester City 2-2 Bournemouth
While there is not much to separate the two teams on paper, they do not match evenly on form. However, Bournemouth’s away record in the Premier League in 2024 is not something to write home about. Hence, Leicester City should sense an opportunity on Saturday, although the Foxes have their defensive struggles.
Steve Cooper has never beaten Bournemouth in five attempts in all competitions (D2. L3). That record will worsen on Saturday, although Leicester City should manage a stalemate to ease some pressure on the English tactician. The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-2 draw between Leicester City and Bournemouth this weekend.
