Match Preview
Leicester City vrs Fulham
Premier League Match Day 18 22/23 at King Power Stadium
Tuesday 3rd January 2023 KO: 19:45
Referee:
Darren Bond (Lancashire)
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High-flying Fulham will be looking to make it three wins on the bounce in the Premier League when they travel to the King Power Stadium to play Leicester City on Tuesday night.
The hosts are in opposite form since returning to action after the Qatar World Cup, having lost both of their league games so far.
Fulham have developed a reputation for being a bit of a yo-yo team in recent years, but they are showing no signs that they will be anywhere near the relegation zone this season.
Considering that the Cottagers are currently sat in seventh place, they may instead have their sights set on pushing for European qualification, although there is, of course, still a long way to go.
Marco Silva has very much got his side playing an entertaining brand of football, only failing to score in a game twice all season, with one of these coming matches way back in August, in a 0-0 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
In their last trip on the road, Fulham ran away with a game against Crystal Palace, winning 3-0 at Selhurst Park, in a match where the hosts were reduced to nine men, and then they followed that up with a win against struggling Southampton.
Earlier this season, the Cottagers were on the receiving end of a gutting late goal, when Erling Braut Haaland struck late for Manchester City to win 2-1, but it was their turn for late antics against the Saints, with Joao Palhinha netting in the 88th minute to secure a 2-1 victory.
Leicester decided to stick by manager Brendan Rodgers despite a particularly poor start to the season, in which they picked up just one point in their opening seven Premier League matches.
After a 6-2 defeat away at Tottenham Hotspur in September, the Foxes were sat bottom of the table, three points from safety and still searching for their first win.
However, the board got their reward for sticking by the Northern Irishman, as Rodgers then spearheaded a run of seven wins in the next 10 games that followed, with the players still clearly fighting for their manager, steering them well clear of relegation trouble.
During that time, Leicester kept a remarkable eight clean sheets, appearing to have finally put their defensive issues to bed, but the manager will be a little concerned about how his team have fared since the restart.
The Foxes lost 3-0 at home to Newcastle United in their first league match, before narrowly losing away at Liverpool on Friday night, in a match that Wout Faes will want to forget, having scored two own goals.
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Fulham are looking to earn consecutive away league victories against the Foxes for the first time since September 1967. L5).
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Leicester have won two of the past three Premier League meetings, having failed to beat Fulham in any of the previous five encounters in the division.
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Fulham's tally of 25 points is their highest after 17 games of a top-flight campaign since the 2009-10 season.
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The Cottagers are aiming to win three consecutive Premier League matches for the second time this season, a feat they last managed in 2011-12.
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They could also earn back-to-back Premier League away victories in the same season for the first time since April to May 2011 under Mark Hughes.
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Fulham's only victory in their past 23 top-flight away fixtures in January came at West Brom on New Year's Day a decade ago.
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Leicester have suffered successive home league defeats for the first time since losing four in a row at the King Power Stadium under Claude Puel between December 2018 and February 2019.
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The Foxes are vying to avoid losing three straight top-flight home matches without scoring for the first time since August to September 1983.
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Brendan Rodgers has won eight of his nine Premier League matches against Fulham, more than he has against any other side.
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