Sports Mole previews Leicester City's clash with Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday, including a prediction, team news and predicted lineups.

Leicester City and Southampton meet in the Premier League for the first time since the latter suffered a record 9-0 defeat at the hands of the Foxes back in October.

The Saints have enjoyed a considerable spike in form since that day, while Leicester continue to confound expectations under Brendan Rodgers.

Match preview

Leicester City's Kelechi Iheanacho celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates against Everton on November 1, 2019 © Reuters

That 9-0 thrashing of Southampton at St Mary's served as the moment when onlookers started to look at this Leicester team in a different light.

Beyond being a highly-organised, energetic group of players, the result enshrined in the minds of many that this was a side capable of beating anybody, of even challenging for the Premier League title.

A recent draw with Norwich City, along with defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool, killed talk of another shock title, but Leicester are nonetheless a team that firmly belong in the top four.

Under Rodgers, the Midlands side bring a ruthless blend of rapid transitional play and cutting edge in the final third, with the talismanic Jamie Vardy once again having a quietly world-class campaign, netting 17 goals in 19 league outings.

They are now a side that are expected to not just win but indeed thrill while doing so, and the meeting with Southampton is no exception.

Southampton's Ryan Bertrand celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates on December 4, 2019 © Reuters

In a way, it could be said that the 9-0 drubbing in front of their own fans, equalling the record for the biggest ever margin of victory in the Premier League, was the best possible thing to happen to Southampton this season.

That result left Southampton in the relegation zone, without a league win in five games, but it was also the catalyst for an impressive revival.

In the 11 games since that defeat, Ralph Hasenhuttl's side have won five times, along with claiming an impressive draw at Arsenal, climbing to 12th in the process, five points clear of safety.

Since that drubbing, which naturally garnered worldwide attention, Southampton's performances have been tighter, more energetic, more purposeful all over the pitch.

They will need to be at their very best, and also have some luck, if they are to exorcise the demons of that gloomy October evening at the King Power on Saturday.

Leicester City Premier League form: WDLLWW
Leicester City form (all competitions): LLWWWD

Southampton Premier League form: LLWWDW
Southampton form (all competitions): LWWDWW

Team News

Leicester City's Wilfred Ndidi celebrates scoring their first goal with teammate James Maddison on August 18, 2019 © Reuters

Wilfred Ndidi will be out for another month with a knee injury, although midfield partner James Maddison is expected to return for this fixture.

Wes Morgan does not return until later this month, and while Matty James has a small chance of returning, Daniel Amartey is definitely out after picking up an ankle problem.

Southampton only have won sidelined player in the form of Yan Valery, who has been out due to a viral infection.

With a more or less full group of players to choose from, Hasenhuttl is likely to pick a similar side to the one that triumphed 1-0 over Tottenham Hotspur, including goalscorer Danny Ings in the number nine role.

Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Soyuncu, Evans, Fuchs, Chilwell, Pereira; Maddison, Tielemans, Choudhury; Perez, Vardy

Southampton possible starting lineup:
McCarthy; Cedric, Stephens, Bednarek, Bertrand; Ward-Prowse, Hojbjerg, Romeu, Long; Redmond, Ings

We say: Leicester City 3-1 Southampton

Southampton will no doubt make a better game of this encounter compared with last October's mauling, but the home side have far too much quality and confidence in the final third at this moment in time, meaning that a comfortable Leicester victory serves as the most likely outcome.

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a win with a probability of 56.78%. A draw had a probability of 22.1% and a win for had a probability of 21.16%.

The most likely scoreline for a win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.91%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (9.46%) and 2-0 (9.1%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.3%), while for a win it was 1-2 (5.61%).