Leicester vs. Leeds Predictions: An interesting game in the early kick-off on Saturday

Leicester welcome Leeds in the early kick off on Saturday and they will be keen to pile on the misery for the visitors

Leeds have looked fragile in recent weeks, conceding a heap of goals that ultimately saw Marcelo Bielsa relieved of his duties. Bielsa was hugely popular amongst the Leeds fans and rightly so. The Argentine brought them up from the Championship and turned on the style in doing it. However, the popularity of the outgoing manager piles pressure on Jesse Marsch, who will be taking charge of his first game as Leeds manager on Saturday.

Leicester have been having a disappointing season themselves and they are currently marooned in mid-table, having competed for the Champions League spots in the previous 2 seasons. This poor form has seen speculation about Brendan Rodgers losing his job, despite the FA Cup win at the end of last season. The Foxes secured a 2-0 away victory against Burnley and they will be looking to build on that against another one of the Premier League’s relegation candidates

Leeds opponents are averaging over 9 goal kicks per game in their last 10 matches in all competitions and I expect them to show just as much under their new manager. Marsch is known for his high octane style of play and while it didn’t work out for him at Leipzig, he still comes to England with a stellar reputation for attacking football. There is no time for him to settle in and play it safe in the opening weeks of his tenure, with Leeds in desperate need of the points immediately.

Leicester are averaging just over 6 goal kicks in their last 10 matches, slightly lower than required for this bet, but they had a whopping 14 when these teams met earlier in the season. Leeds' last 5 matches where they have been priced similarly to win the match have seen their opponents average over 9 goal kicks per game. Leicester are averaging exactly 7 goal kicks per game in their last 5 matches where they have faced similar opponents (according to the bookmakers match result odds).

Leicester’s last 10 matches have seen an average of over 40 throws per game overall. Leeds' last 10 matches average even more, with an average of over 42 per game. The number of throws that occurred in Leipzig matches during Marsch’s tenure was also on the high side, with an average of over 42 per game.

For the longer odds bet, I’m going to take similar angles as the main bet and increase the lines. Given the averages, I see no reason why the game can’t comfortably clear the line for the main bet and reach the required 43 mark for this one.

As opposed to just backing the Leicester goal kicks, I’ll add over 15.5 goal kicks in the match overall. The meeting between these sides at Elland Road earlier in the season ended with 24 goal kicks, so let’s hope for similar numbers here

The meeting between these sides earlier in the season saw an incredible 45 tackles in the match and this bet has landed in the 3 meetings between these sides since Leeds returned to the top flight, with 42 and 39 tackles in the other meetings.