Preview: Leicester City vs. Leeds United

Sports Mole previews Friday's Championship clash between Leicester City and Leeds United, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Leicester City play host to Leeds United on Friday night looking to move eight points clear at the top of the Championship standings.

Meanwhile, the visitors to the King Power Stadium can move to within sixth points of second-placed Ipswich Town if they can emerge victorious in the East Midlands.

Match preview

Ahead of the start of 2023-24, the general consensus was that Leicester and Leeds would be competing for automatic promotion, potentially already clear of the chasing pack at this stage.

Ipswich have spoiled that prediction, the Tractor Boys a massive nine points clear of Leeds in third, but Leicester have performed above expectations to cement their grip on first place.

Thirteen of their 14 second-tier matches have ended in victory, the most recent coming away at Queens Park Rangers last weekend as Harry Winks scored a superb winner 10 minutes from time in a 2-1 triumph.

Enzo Maresca's team were not overly convincing, nor were they in the preceding game against Sunderland, yet it was another maximum return at a time when the teams in third and below have not found consistency since the start of August.

The most impressive aspect of Leicester's game this season has been not conceding more than once in a single Championship fixture, shipping just eight goals in their 14 contests.

They have also netted 29 goals - the joint-best in the division - but only conceding three times in seven matches at the King Power Stadium is the statistic that will get Leeds' attention.

Daniel Farke's side head into this encounter having netted seven goals in their most recent three fixtures, a 3-2 win being posted at Norwich City and a 4-1 success coming over Huddersfield Town.

A 1-0 reverse at Stoke City sandwiched between those victories is their solitary setback in five games, but the Yorkshire giants can at least head into this match as the best of the rest outside of the automatic promotion spots after their under-performance during the early weeks of Farke's reign.

With Leicester already 14 points clear of them, Leeds' objective in the long term will be to overhaul Ipswich for the runners-up spot, yet they will have to improve their away results with three defeats already coming on their travels.

At a time when Joel Piroe has contributed just one goal in six games, Crysencio Summerville has stepped up to the plate with five strikes and three assists in just five appearances.

Leicester City Championship form:

Leeds United Championship form:

Team News

Maresca will make changes from the win over QPR, likely recalling the likes of Ricardo Pereira and Wout Faes to the defence.

Kelechi Iheanacho may also be preferred to Jamie Vardy, while Kasey McAteer is in contention to be recalled on one of the flanks after shaking off a hamstring issue.

However, a muscle problem is likely to keep Wilfred Ndidi on the sidelines, allowing Cesare Casadei to retain his place in midfield.

Meanwhile, Leeds will assess Sam Byram, Joe Rodon and Summerville after they were all withdrawn with fitness issues against Huddersfield.

Of the three, Rodon, who has a hamstring problem, is most likely not to feature with Liam Cooper on standby to deputise, with the other two having minor muscle injuries.

Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Hermansen; Pereira, Faes, Vestergaard, Justin; Casadei, Winks, Dewsbury-Hall; McAteer, Iheanacho, Mavididi

Leeds United possible starting lineup:Meslier; Shackleton, Cooper, Struijk, Byram; Kamara, Ampadu; James, Piroe, Summerville; Rutter

We say: Leicester City 2-1 Leeds United

With Leeds' attacking potential, we feel that the visitors have the potential to cause an upset versus the runaway leaders. Nevertheless, we cannot back against the runaway leaders, who could be prepared to remain patient and wait for their moment to secure a late win.