Leicester City play Spartak Moscow on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League (UEL) group stage. Will the upcoming game be as exciting as the last one, in which Leicester beat Spartak 4-3?
The Foxes enter the UEL contest on the back of a 2-0 defeat against Arsenal in the English Premier League on Saturday. Can they return to winning ways against their Russian opponents playing in front of the home crowd at the King Power Stadium?
Spartak Moscow have suffered one of the worst defeats in their history a few days after losing to Leicester in the UEL, when they faced the current Russian Premier Liga leaders, Zenit, and lost 7-1! They then drew against FK Rostov 1-1, but their performances have not been very persuasive.
Neither of the two teams are in great form then as they fight for the play-off spots in Group C. Legia Warszawa lead the group with six points, Napoli are second with four, Leicester are third with four as well, and Spartak are last on three points. Everyone is still in play, and every point earned will be crucial. This is basically a play-off game already, because any misstep matters and the clubs know it.
We trust Leicester to stroll past Spartak. Not only are they at home, but they also have Patson Daka at their disposal and we are certain Brendan Rodgers won’t hesitate to start him. The Zambian scored all four goals against Spartak last time and he will be looking to add a few more.
Spartak, on the other hand, might possibly be missing their main goalscorer, Ezequiel Ponce, who is currently suffering from a knee injury. They have other talents up front like Quincy Promes and Jordan Larsson, but we think the Foxes are going to be better prepared for them this time around and they won’t let them create too many chances.
