Leicester vs. Southampton Betting Tips: Maddison can rack up the shots yet again on home soil

There are four 3pm kick-offs in the Premier League on Saturday with Leicester vs Southampton taking place at the King Power. Our man @AnthonyEadson is on hand with two tips that have caught his eye over at bet365. 

Transfer speculation around several of their key players potentially leaving the club still dominates conversation around Leicester at the moment, with Wesley Fofana looking like the closest to an exit. It’s been a fairly poor start to the season for the Foxes after throwing away a two goal lead in their opener against Brentford before losing 4-2 at the Emirates in Gameweek 2. 

Southampton on the other hand produced a two goal comeback of their own, down on the South coast against Leeds last weekend to get their first point of the season on the board after a 4-1 defeat at Spurs in their curtain-raiser. Many pundits have predicted Saints to struggle this season, with Ralph Hassenhuttl already being asked about his future at this early stage of the campaign.

Moving onto team news and as things stand Wesley Fofana should keep his spot in the Leicester defence, although Caglar Soyuncu may step in to replace Daniel Amartey. Kelechi Iheanacho is pushing for a start, while Harvey Barnes and Ryan Bertrand remain sidelined.

For the visitors, Joe Aribo and Adam Armstrong are expected to be drafted back into the starting XI. Che Adams remains a doubt for Southampton, while Valentino Livramento is their only confirmed absentee.

First up I’m touting James Maddison to have Over 1.5 shots and both teams to receive a card in the match, available at 19/20 with bet365 via their Bet Builder feature. I’m a big fan of having Maddison on-side in shots markets and he’s been a bit of a cash cow over the last few seasons. 

In his first game of this new campaign Maddison let off six shots at home to Brentford, the most of any player across Matchweek 1. He then followed that up with two shots and a goal away at Arsenal last weekend, and looking back at the 2021/2022 campaign he averaged 2.1 per game over his 35 appearances. The 25-year-old has cleared this line of Over 1.5 shots in six of his last seven matches at home in the Premier League. 

I’ll also be including both teams to receive a card from referee Michael Salisbury in this Bet Builder. The official who spent the majority of his time taking charge of Championship matches last season, may not be the most card-happy official with an average of just 3.13 yellows per game, but looking a little deeper and across the top-two tiers he’s given both sides a card in 14 of his last 18 matches. 

Moving back to Maddison, and for my second selection I’m backing him to hit the target twice or more at an appealing 11/4 with the same bookmaker. Only four players in the Premier League recorded more shots on target than Maddison last season and he’s currently on a run of nine consecutive top-flight matches where he’s landed one between the sticks. 

Looking at just home league fixtures from the 2021/2022 campaign, Maddison recorded 2+ shots on target in five of his 16 starts (31%). Considering Saturday’s opponents have conceded six goals in their opening two games, and with odds of 11/4 implying just a 26.7% chance of this bet landing, I feel we are getting a value price. Especially since considering the guys over at Sky Bet have this same selection priced at just 11/8. 

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