Manchester City vs Leicester City Preview: Form, Team News & Prediction | OneFootball

Etihad Stadium is the venue as Manchester City and Leicester City lock horns in a high-stakes Premier League encounter on Wednesday.

It has been Man City’s worst Premier League campaign under Pep Guardiola as they head into the final few weeks outside the top four.

However, a single-point gap to fourth-placed Chelsea makes for promising reading ahead of Leicester’s visit.

Guardiola’s side received an ultimate confidence boost at the weekend, overcoming a slender half-time deficit to beat Bournemouth 2-1 in their FA Cup quarter-final tie.

As a result, they’ve secured one final chance to avoid a first trophyless season since the Spaniard’s first year in charge.

Leicester would likely trade places with out-of-sorts Man City after a 2-0 home loss to Manchester United on the stroke of the international break left them nine points adrift of safety.

The picture looks bleak for the Foxes heading into the season finale, with Ruud van Nistelrooy on the brink of becoming the next Premier League manager to get sacked.

Not even the most enthusiastic Leicester fans would dare to dream big ahead of this trip, especially given the visitors’ dreadful form in 2025.

Must-win clash

Man City shared the spoils with Brighton & Hove Albion in an action-packed 2-2 home draw before the international break, maintaining their underwhelming league patch.

Only one win from their last four Premier League outings (D1, L2) cannot inspire much confidence around Guardiola’s camp, with Champions League qualification hanging by a thread.

That stalemate against the Seagulls marked City’s second consecutive winless home league match (D1, L1), while they last went three in a row without a top-flight home win in December 2023.

Leicester’s visit could be just what the doctor ordered for the Cityzens as they’ve recently dominated this fixture at the Etihad, winning eight of their last ten meetings here (L2).

For more perspective, Guardiola’s charges have bagged nine goals across their last two home clashes against the Foxes, which bodes well for their bid to win a seventh straight league game against this opposition.

Now or never

Despite facing long odds, Leicester must defy their perennial struggles in this match-up to set the foundation for a late survival push amid a miserable run of form.

Man Utd’s emphatic triumph at the King Power Stadium condemned Van Nistelrooy’s team to a sixth successive Premier League defeat without a reply.

Leicester’s chances of pulling off an upset look slim, and it feels things will get worse before they get better, with the visitors staring down the barrel of an unwanted piece of history.

If they lose ‘to nil,’ they will become only the fourth side in English top-flight history to lose seven games on the trot without scoring.

The Foxes have lost their last four competitive matches on the road via an aggregate score of 9-1 since beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in late January.

As if that’s not troubling enough, only Southampton (five) have picked up fewer away points in the Premier League this season than Leicester’s eight (W2, D2, L10).

Team News

Man City still cannot call upon long-term absentees Rodri, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake.

Oscar Bobb is close to returning from a lengthy spell on the sidelines, but this game will come too soon for him.

As for Leicester, Abdul Fatawu, Harry Soutar and Nathaniel Opoku are unavailable for selection.

Crystal Palace loanee Odsonne Edouard remains frozen out of the squad after falling out with Van Nistelrooy.

Prediction

Despite Man City’s faltering recent form at the Etihad, this should be a walk in the park for the reigning champions.

Leicester would likely sign up for a point before the kick-off, but there’s a feeling they’ll return home empty-handed again.