Leicester City vs Southampton: Betting Odds & Prediction
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Leicester City host Southampton in a huge clash in the race for automatic promotion in the Premier League on Tuesday evening.
The home side recoreded a vital victory over West Brom at the weekend, while Southampton's ambitions were dealt a crushing blow in Cardiff City. A win for Leicester could confirm their return to the Premier League if Leeds lose at Middlesbrough on Monday. Kick-off is set for 8pm UK time at the King Power Stadium.
Recent Form
Leicester City
Enzo Maresca's men returned to winning ways with a hard-fought 2-1 home victory West Brom on Saturday. The result lifted them to first place, two points above second-placed Ipswich Town, who didn't play at the weekend due to Coventry's involvement in the FA Cup semi-finals.
Leicester's form has been shaky, with three wins and three losses coming in their last six league matches. The run of form has left them in a tighter predicament than many expected given their rip-roaring form in the first half of the season.
Nevertheless, their last three matches at the King Power have ended in victory, with the three recent defeats all coming on the road. An average of 2.33 points per game leaves them with the third-best home record in the Championship, with an average of two goals scored and only 0.76 conceded in those matches.
Leicester have also scored seven in their last three matches at home, but haven't recorded a clean sheet in front of their home fans since a 2-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday in February.
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Southampton
Inconsistency is the perfect word to describe the top four in the Championship in recent weeks, and this was typified by Southampton's damaging 2-1 loss at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday. The loss ended their four-match unbeaten run and severely hampered their automatic promotion prospects with three matches remaining.
Their recent form on the road has been problematic. The loss in South Wales made it three away matches without a win for Russell Martin's side, and though Southampton still boast the third-best away record on the road, two of their remaining three fixtures are away starting with the match against Leicester. An up-turn in form is therefore needed if they are to have any hope of securing a top-two spot.
Goals have been harder to come by in away matches so far; an average of 2.45 scored at home drops to only 1.48 on their travels, though they've only failed to score in 10% of away matches. Southampton have, however, scored two or more in just 43% of matches on the road so far.
Prediction
Despite Leicester's recent rollercoaster of results, their home form has steaded in recent weeks. Three home wins on the bounce make them the smart pick in this one, particularly given Southampton's struggles on the road.