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Bournemouth logo
Championship
Feb 1, 2014 at 3pm UK
 
Leicester logo

0-1

FT(HT: 0-0)
Phillips (81')

Preview: Bournemouth vs. Leicester City

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Championship meeting between midtable Bournemouth and in-form leaders Leicester.

Leicester City will be looking to further extend their eight-point lead at the top of the Championship table when they travel to the Goldsands Stadium to take on Bournemouth this Saturday.

Leicester's two closest rivals face off against each other in the day's early kickoff which means, whatever the result in that game, victory would send them at least 11 points clear of third place.

The Foxes go into the match in fine form having won their last eight league games and not been beaten in their last nine - a run that includes taking points off high flyers such as Burnley, Queens Park Rangers and Derby County.

The visitors have the best away record in the division having picked up 28 points from their 14 matches, although struggling sides such as Charlton Athletic, Doncaster Rovers and Sheffield Wednesday have all managed to beat them on their travels.

Sean St Ledger and Liam Moore will once again miss out, and Nigel Pearson could name an unchanged side to the one that beat Birmingham City 2-1 on Tuesday, leaving new signings Riyad Mahrez and Kevin Phillips on the bench.

While Leicester have their eyes very much set on reaching the top flight this season, Bournemouth will be content with a solid midtable finish.

That is where they sit at the moment in terms of points, with 10 separating them from both the bottom three and the playoff positions.

Eddie Howe is unlikely to harbour any realistic ambitions of launching a charge for the top six as his side continue to struggle for consistency in the league.

They have improved their results recently, losing just one of their last seven Championship games, but three wins and three draws in that time suggests that they still haven't found a constant level of performance.

The Cherries put on a good show against the might of Liverpool in the FA Cup last Saturday, and Leicester coming to town is another daunting task that they will need to rise to.

The hosts have made a number of additions to the squad in January and are expected to bring in at least one more new face before Friday's deadline, but it remains to be seen whether they will be thrown straight into the starting lineup for this match.

Howe is likely to be without Charlie Daniels for the game, which means that Ian Harte could get a run out at left-back.

Recent form

Bournemouth: DLWDLW

Leicester: WLWWWW

Possible starting lineups

Bournemouth: Camp; Francis, Elphick, Ward, Harte; Pugh, O'Kane, Arter, Surman, Ritchie; Grabban

Leicester: Schmeichel; De Laet, Wasilewski, Morgan, Konchesky; Knockaert, James, Drinkwater, Dyer; Vardy, Nugent

Sports Mole says: 1-3


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Written by
Barney Corkhill
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Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson looks on ahead of the Championship playoff semi-final against Watford on May 9, 2013
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