Leicester City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
The first round of Premier League games is upon us this weekend and Leicester City vs Wolves is a fixture which quickly catches the eye.
It’s an East versus West Mildands derby between two proud old clubs, and two which have enjoyed a fine resurgence in recent years.
FA Cup holders Leicester City have had two consecutive fifth-placed finishes in the league and deserved even more. Meanwhile, the Wolves, after a stint in the lower leagues, exploded back onto the Premier scene and they’ve won consecutive Europa League qualifications in their first two seasons back in the top-flight.
The visitors have a new man at the helm after Bruno Lage replaced the departed Nuno Espirito Santo, while Brendan Rodgers continues his already successful career at the King Power Stadum. The ambitious manager will want more and he’ll be desperate to prove his Foxes are top four contenders again.
The Premier League 2021 betting odds point to a home win on Saturday and, having already had a competitive run out in the Community Shield, the hosts will have more of an edge than their visitors.
Talking Points
Foxes welcome back young stars
Brendan Rodgers’ team is joint-fifth favourite with Tottenham at odds of 44.00 with SBOTOP to win the title. And while that looks a long shot, particularly with hot favourites Manchester City continuing to strengthen, a top four place is certainly within reach.
Having won the FA Cup last season, the Foxes have already picked up the first piece of silverware this term and they fully deserved their Community Shield victory over Manchester City as Kelechi Iheanacho dispatched a late penalty he won when he was tripped by Nathan Ake.
The Nigerian striker had a superb campaign last term, netting 16 goals in all competitions and he provides great support for the veteran hitman Jamie Vardy.
Leicester fans were delighted to see their boss play the young creative duo of James Maddison and Harvey Barnes in the Community Shield. They both missed long periods of last season with injury and, had they remained fit, then surely the Foxes would be playing in this season’s Champions League.
Captain and keeper Kasper Schmeichel returns from an unbelievable Euro 2020 campaign and he’ll be ready to lead his men into battle once again.
Life after Nuno begins for Wolves
New head coach Bruno Lage has big shoes to fill at Wolves following the departure of Nuno to Tottenham. The 45-year-old manager won the Portuguese title as Benfica manager in 2019 but he’ll find the Premier League significantly tougher.
At odds of 6.00 to get relegated, this season looks like it could be a struggle for the Wolves and Lage’s team has had a mixed pre-season, finishing with a 1-0 defeat at home to Celta Vigo.
They follow this difficult opener with matches against Tottenham and Manchester United and a defeat on Saturday could spell a start in the bottom three for the new boss.
Wolves struggled to score last season and that shows just how reliant they are on Mexican striker Raul Jimenez. The 30-year-old missed most of the last campaign with a fractured skull, and his return for the pre-season was a sight for sore eyes among Wolves fans.
He provides a serious goal threat and leads the line with real authority. His return could provide focus for the lightning quick Adama Traore — who struggled to find an end product all too often last term — while giving 19-year-old striker Fabio Silva time to develop.
History
Leicester is the best example of what an underdog can achieve in the Premier League, winning the tournament in 2016 and competing shoulder-to-shoulder with a handful of clubs with infinitely greater financial resources.
Wolves have spent big, before and on their return to top-flight football, but they are yet to be as firmly established as their opponents.
The Foxes have had marginally the better of the head-to-heads but the games have been well-contested. Leicester leads by nine to six and there have been 12 draws from the 27 games played in the Premier League era.
Leicester are unbeaten at the King Power Stadium in the last five meetings with Wolves, winning here 1-0 last season.
Betting Tip
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Leicester City vs Wolverhampton Wanderers | Leicester City Asian Handicap -1.75 @ 1.92 |
| August 14, 22:00 (GMT+8) |
At 1.60 to win and 3.50 to draw, this is a game the Foxes expect to get something out of while at odds of 5.11 the Wolves are rank outsiders.
And that’s the way I expect it to go, with the hosts’ match fitness and all-round quality proving too much for the Wolves to get into the good portion of the first set of Premier League 2021 results.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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|---|---|---|---|
 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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