Everton vs Leicester City: Preview and Prediction

Everton and Leicester City will face off in a six-pointer in their relegation battles in the Premier League when they face off at Goodison Park on Saturday.

The 2024/25 Premier League season resumes this week with Gamweek 24. The latest round of fixtures kicks off with the match between Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion at City Ground before the action continues with four simultaneous games, including Everton vs Leicester City at Goodison Park.

Chaos has been the name of the game for Everton for several years, and that has been the running theme this season. With the takeover bid continuing in the background, Sean Dyche’s future was up in the air before David Moyes took over for his second stint with the Merseyside outfit. While the veteran manager began with a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa, he has responded with shock wins over Tottenham and Brighton & Hove Albion.

As for Leicester City, the Foxes have also witnessed a managerial change this season, with Steve Cooper not lasting long in his debut season at the King Power Stadium. Ruud van Nistelrooy experienced the “new manager bounce” after taking over from Cooper before enduring a horrendous winless run for several weeks. However, van Nistelrooy’s charges climbed out of the drop zone with a shock win over Tottenham last weekend.

The reverse fixture saw Leicester City come from a goal down to hold Everton to a 1-1 draw, with Stephy Mavididi scoring the equaliser. The Hard Tackle looks closer at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.

Team News & Tactics

Everton

David Moyes has new injury concerns hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Everton manager will be bereft of the services of seven first-team players vs Leicester City on Saturday.

Orel Mangala (knee) and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (hamstring) are the latest absentees, with the duo picking up long-term injuries last weekend against Brighton & Hove Albion. The duo has joined Seamus Coleman (calf), Tim Iroegbunam (foot), Dwight McNeil (knee), Armando Broja (achilles), and Youssef Chermiti (hamstring) on the sidelines.

Jordan Pickford will take his spot between the sticks, with Everton lining up in a 4-3-3 formation in front of him vs Leicester City on Saturday. The backline should feature Jake O’Brien, James Tarkowski, Jarrad Branthwaite, and Vitaliy Mykolenko.

As for the midfield unit, James Garner should hold the fort in the middle of the park, with Idrissa Gueye and Abdoulaye Doucoure providing defensive support. Finally, Beto will lead the line for Everton against Leicester City, with Iliman Ndiaye and Jesper Lindstrom being the two wide attackers.

Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Gueye, Garner, Doucoure; Lindstrom, Beto, Ndiaye

Leicester City

Unlike his counterpart in the Everton dugout, Ruud van Nistelrooy has greeted a positive update on the team news front ahead of the trip to Goodison Park. The Leicester City manager will be without four first-team players on Saturday.

Mads Hermansen has resumed training after recovering from a groin injury, and he should be in contention to take on Everton this weekend. However, Ricardo Pereira (thigh), Wilfred Ndidi (hamstring), and Abdul Fatawu Issahaku (knee) remain on the sidelines.

Hermansen will take his spot between the sticks, with Leicester City lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation vs Everton on Saturday. The backline should feature James Justin, Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard, and Victor Kristensen.

As for the midfield unit, Harry Winks and Boubakary Soumare should pair up in the double pivot, with Bilal El Khannouss reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Jamie Vardy will spearhead the Leicester City attack against Everton, with Jordan Ayew and Bobby Decordova-Reid being the two wide attackers.

Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Hermansen; Justin, Faes, Vestergaard, Kristensen; Winks, Soumare; Ayew, El Khannouss, Decordova-Reid; Vardy

Key Stats

  • Everton lost their last home Premier League match vs Leicester City 2-0 in November 2022. They have never lost successive league meetings with the Foxes at Goodison Park. The Foxes have won only one of their eight most recent Premier League meetings with Everton (D4 L3), although it was their last away match against them in November 2022.
  • 17 of the 35 Premier League meetings between Leicester City and Everton have ended in a draw, the highest percentage for any fixture to have been played 30+ times in the competition (49%).
  • Only Liverpool and Nottingham Forest (9 each) have kept more Premier League clean sheets this season than Everton (8). However, the Toffees have also failed to score in more games than any other side this term (12), ranking 19th for goals (19), xG (22.3), shot conversion rate (7.9%), and shots on target (73).
  • Three of the five players with the most shots and chances created combined without registering a goal or assist in the Premier League this season are Everton players – Jesper Lindstrom (25 shots, 16 chances, 1st), Jack Harrison (15 shots, 14 chances, 4th) and Abdoulaye Doucoure (11 shots, 17 chances, 5th).
  • All five of Iliman Ndiaye’s Premier League goals for Everton this season have come in the first half of games (his first coming in the reverse fixture vs Leicester City in September), with the Toffees avoiding defeat in all five matches when he has found the back of the net (W3 D2). Meanwhile, only West Ham United’s Mohammed Kudus (57) has completed more dribbles than the Everton winger this term (54).

Player to Watch

Jamie Vardy

Embed from Getty Images

While Iliman Ndiaye and Bilal El Khannouss were viable candidates for this section, we have picked Jamie Vardy as our Player to Watch for Saturday’s game between Everton and Leicester City. The veteran striker continues to age like fine wine, and he often gives a reminder of his ability in crunch situations. In addition, he has an excellent record against Everton.

Vardy has had a hand in eight goals across his 12 Premier League starts against Everton (7 goals, 1 assist). Meanwhile, the Englishman could become only the fourth player in the competition’s history to score in consecutive appearances while aged 38 or older after Teddy Sheringham, Ryan Giggs, and Graham Alexander. So, Vardy will be the go-to man for Ruud van Nistelrooy this weekend.

Prediction

Everton 2-1 Leicester City

Following wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton & Hove Albion, Everton will aim to win three consecutive Premier League games for the first time since April 2024. As for Leicester City, the Foxes beat Tottenham 2-1 in their last Premier League game. They have not won successive away matches in the top flight since October/November 2022 (a run of three), which included a 2-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park.

So, keeping that in mind and the need for points to get away from the relegation battle, an end-to-end affair is on the cards. However, the hosts should have the quality to eke a narrow victory, considering their defensive prowess. The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-1 win for David Moyes and his charges.

Leave Comment

Recommended

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.