Bristol City vs Leicester Prediction: Foxes seek clean sheet

Leicester City’s quest to get back into the Premier League at the first time of asking has hit the rocks in recent weeks and their giant lead at the top of the Championship has evaporated. Now down in second, with a game in hand on league leaders Leeds United, this Easter weekend will be pivotal to their promotion chances. 

First up they travel to face Bristol City at 12:30 on Friday, with the game live on Sky Sports Main Event. The Foxes will be desperate to return to the top of the table before the others have played, and pile the pressure on their promotion rivals. Here’s my Bristol City vs Leicester predictions, including team news and betting tips. 

Team News

Liam Manning should be able to welcome back experienced midfielders Matty James and Joe Williams, as the duo are “on track” to return on Good Friday. James has been sidelined for the last five games with an achilles problem, while a stiff hamstring has blighted Williams of late.

For the away side, Harry Souttar made two starts for Australia over the international break, while fellow defender Callum Doyle was involved with England’s U21s. The young defender is suspended here having been sent off against Chelsea in the FA Cup. Meanwhile, Wout Faes faced Ireland and England with Belgium while Jannick Vestegaard and Patson Daka were also in international action.

On the injury front, Ricardo Pereira, Jamie Vardy and Dennis Praet will hope to be nearing a return to fitness as the Championship run-in begins in earnest. Enzo Maresca believed the trio would return after the international break, and Kasey McAteer could also join them.

Match Odds

Bristol City are 100/30 to win this game, with Leicester the favourites at 4/6 to take all three points. That gives the promotion-chasers an implied win probability of 60%. Elsewhere, a draw is priced at 13/5, BTTS is 5/6 and over 2.5 goals is 10/11.

Leicester to win to nil @ 7/4

The Foxes haven’t been in great form of late, that is true, but they are still one of the elite sides in the Championship this term. Their squad is simply remarkable, and the 82 points they have amassed so far makes them one of the greatest second tier teams we have ever seen.

They’ve also been relatively solid on the road. They kept clean sheets at Bournemouth and Sunderland and although Hull and Chelsea had joy against them, Bristol City aren’t on that level quite yet. The Robins have been pretty dull recently, failing to score against West Brom, QPR and Cardiff in the past few weeks. The QPR and Cardiff defeats both came at Ashton Gate and they’ve only scored four in their last six outings.

The Foxes should have enough to come away with all three points here, while their international defence should be able to keep the Robins at bay.

Leicester to win 1-0 @ 11/2

I’d like to plump for a correct score here as well. This one is worth backing given the reasons we have just mentioned, but it’s also a common scoreline for both of these sides in recent weeks. Maresca’s men beat Bournemouth and Sunderland 1-0, while Bristol City lost 1-0 at home to both Cardiff and QPR.

The home side are lacking goals at this current moment, while after a tough international break and short on confidence, Leicester may not be at their free-flowing best. I like the price of 11/2 for the 1-0 away win.

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