Key events
“Not sure why an unchanged team has been named for maybe the fifth game in a row,” emails Leicester fan Graham Randall. “We’re due an absolute thrashing soon. We’ve been fortunate that recert teams have scored and then just had a practice match. Not sure what the answer is but it isn’t this manager. Absolutely clueless.”
It does seem very odd. And it’s not like he doesn’t have options on the bench. On their day, Mavididi, De Cordova-Reid, Ayew and Buonanotte can all do some damage, particularly the latter.
The Isak celebration, the disdainful thumb over the shoulder, is one of my current favourites. It’s not better than Benjani’s, but it’s very, very good.
The teams!
Leicester: Hermansen, Faes, Coady, Thomas, Justin, Ndidi, Soumare, Kristiansen, Daka, El Khannous, Vardy.
Subs: Stolarczyk, Okoli, Mavididi, De Cordova-Reid, Ayew, Ricardo Pereira, Skipp, Buonanotte, Monga.
Newcastle: Pope, Trippier, Schar, Burn, Livramento, Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton, Murphy, Isak, Barnes.
Subs: Dubravka, Ruddy, Wilson, Targett, Krafth, Osula, Longstaff, Miley, Neave.
In chastening news for Leicester, Joelinton and Isak are both fit to start. Anthony Gordon, however, doesn’t make Newcastle’s squad. Still, that’s a pretty strong XI for the visitors, even if the bench is a little light.
Further Harvey Barnes-related reading.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the match known by absolutely nobody as the Ayoze Pérez Derby. There are not too many players that have made the not-so-famous switch between Leicester and Newcastle – I remembered Pérez, Chris Wood, Les Ferdinand, Keith Gillespie before Googling the rest, and found that I had forgotten Steve Howey, Nobby Solano, Steve Guppy, Danny Simpson. I’m sure there are others (my inbox is open for business, michael.butler@theguardian.com), but that’s quite enough nostalgia for one preamble.
All of that is a long-winded way of saying that Newcastle’s Harvey Barnes will return to his former club this evening. The winger has played regularly for Eddie Howe since the injury (and Carabao Cup final suspension) of Anthony Gordon and it’s expected that the latter will not start tonight, having only joined full training on Friday. To make matters worse for Howe, both Alexander Isak and Joelinton have picked up knocks and are doubtful for this evening, which is absolutely essential for Newcastle’s Champions League ambitions. The Magpies will leapfrog Manchester City and go fifth with victory here.
Leicester are almost certainly doomed. After the Foxes won their first game and drew their second match under Ruud van Nistelrooy in early December, they have lost all but one of their subsequent league games. That leaves Leicester 15 points adrift of safety, nearly double their points tally.
An unlikely win here would still be intriguing. Their next two games are very difficult – Brighton away and Liverpool at home – but Leicester do actually have a relatively kind run in: Wolves (a), Southampton (h), Forest (a), Ipswich (h), Bournemouth (a). That’s about as easy as it gets in the Premier League these days. Leicester have almost certainly run out of road, but in the interests of narrative, let’s say they still have a chance.
Kick-off: 8pm BST.
