On Thursday evening, at 20:00, Leicester starts its adventure in the UEFA Europa League, with a home match against the Ukrainians from Zorya Lugansk. The guests come with the complete group at King Power Stadium, while the “foxes” cannot count on the injured Amartey, Ndidi, Pereira, Soyuncu and Vardy. The absence of the English goal scorer could be important on Thursday night.
Obviously, Leicester has a low share of success, being the definite favorite at the start of the European season. In group G, AEK Atena and Braga still play, and the fight for qualification is announced to be exciting! Leicester are not in great shape at all, having three defeats in the last four official matches. The “foxes” lost to zero the matches with Arsenal (0-2), West Ham (0-3) and Aston Villa (0-1), still managing a great success on the field of Manchester City, score 5-2! Accustomed to playing at home in the last month, the white-blue band will dominate the duel with Zorya.
Ukrainians come for encouraging results domestically. Zorya won the match in Lvov (5-0), and then drew with Dinamo Kiev (1-1) and Kolos Kovalika (1-1), having a good offensive domestically. At the same time, Zorya avoided failure in front of Sahtior Donetk (2-2), the “miners” being led 1-2 to Zaporozhye. Zorya plays a conservative 4-5-1 system, in which Kabaev, Gladkyi and Gromov are the most dangerous players. Certainly, the team coached by Skripnik comes to play an eminently defensive game in England, where they dream of at least one point. Even though it has good results in Ukraine, Leicester is still at a higher level in all aspects.
Zorya is not the first British experience in the UEL groups, having a recent duel with Manchester United, in front of which she defended herself heroically. This will be the “recipe” on Thursday night as well, but we expect the individual value of the Leicester players to make a difference in the end. At the last appearance in the European groups, Leicester was undefeated at home (in UCL), and Brendan Rodgers is an experienced manager at this level. Ayoze and Iheanacho will be the most dangerous attackers in the hosts’ camp, in a one-way match.
Leicester City: Schmeichel; Chestnut, Morgan, Evans, Justin; Mendy; Albrighton, Tielemans, Maddison, Perez; Iheanacho;
Coach: Brendan Rodgers;
Zorya Lugansk: Shevchenko; Favorov, Vernydub, Abu Hanna, Leovigildo; Cvek; Kochergin, Nazaryna, Kabaev, Ciganiks; Sayyadmanesh;
Coach: Viktor Skripnik;
They have scored both teams in the last 5 consecutive European trips of Zorya;
In this series, an average of 1.8 goals were scored per game;
In 3 of Zorya’s last 4 matches, the Ukrainians’ first scorer was Kochergin;
Leicester have scored in a single match in the last 4: they won 5-2 at Manchester City;
Zorya has drawn 3 draws in the last 4 matches, all with a goal conceded: 1-1, 1-1 and 2-2;
PREDICTION: Over 2,5 goals @ 1,75
