We have a bonus Thursday night match in the Premier League this week as two sides who are playing for plenty battle it out at the King Power Stadium when Leicester City play host to West Bromwich Albion.
Leicester retained their place in the top four over the weekend despite being involved in FA Cup action and they can consolidate it with a win here. West Brom can move to within six points of safety and still have a game in hand if they can pick up all three points here.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the BT Sport 1 channel. The programme begins at 7.30pm with the match kicking off at 8pm.
Leicester City
The Foxes will go into this match buoyed by the fact they have secured their spot at the FA Cup final next month, and you’d have to say they aren’t much worse than a 50:50 shot to add that trophy to the Premier League one they won a few seasons ago. With all the talk of European Super Leagues, big clubs and football powerhouses and greed, Leicester are reminding everyone of the correct way to go about things in the game and that you don’t need all the other stuff.
In the Premier League though Leicester have lost their last two matches so that is a run they will be looking to end here. Those defeats were to Manchester City and West Ham however so they weren’t exactly dreadful results. Leicester have struggled to break down sides who sit in at times this season, especially at home, so they will need to guard against that as well. The positive from that is they have had plenty of practice at it and should be better at it by now.
West Bromwich Albion
Coming out of the international break West Bromwich Albion looked like their goose was cooked in terms of remaining in the Premier League this season but to their credit they have taken advantage of Chelsea losing a man to annihilate them before taking advantage of a Southampton side who had an eye on the FA Cup semi-final, and all of a sudden they have a chance of if not completing the great escape, to certainly take it down to the levels of where nerves build up in every team.
The big difference in those latest two matches to the ones which have gone before is they look to have a goal threat at long last. Since Big Sam arrived at The Hawthorns he has focused on trying to keep clean sheets but there seems to have been a realisation that he doesn’t have the tools for that and if they are going to remain in the division then it is at the other end where it is going to happen. Their attack will be tested here against a Leicester defence which is usually strongly organised.
Special Offer
Open up a Betfair account and bet £10 on a Premier League Bet Builder to get £50 free bets to use on other Bet Builders! Click the image below for this excellent offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Responsibly.
Min stake £10 on a EPL Bet Builder, 16th-26th April, min odds 2.0. Only deposits made using Cards or ApplePay will qualify. Free bets are awarded after the qualifying bet has settled, valid for 30 days, must be used on football Bet Builder. Max £50 in free bets. T&Cs apply.
Team News
Leicester City are expecting to have full-back Ricardo Pereira back for this match after he has recovered from a calf injury in time. They will remain without the longer term injury victims James Justin and Harvey Barnes though.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles has recovered from the problem which he picked up against Southampton and could be involved here. Kyle Bartley is another who has overcome injury and could also take his place in the side here.
Betting
I see no reason why we shouldn’t expect to see goals in this match. Both teams are playing for something here admittedly but you wouldn’t say a draw particularly helps either of them so if there is an early goal in the game then the contest should have no problems in opening up into a thoroughly entertaining game. As risky as it is, West Brom might see their best chance of getting a win here if they look to score goals because not many sides are containing this Leicester attack at present.
Another reason for that could be the knowledge that the only clean sheet Leicester have kept in their last eight Premier League games was against a truly terrible Sheffield United side. West Brom generally don’t keep clean sheets themselves very often so I’m expecting plenty of chances to come along at both ends so the 5/6 that this match contains more than 2.5 goals looks like the best bet in this key clash.
Tips
WON – Back Over 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with 888sport
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2021
