Leicester City v Burnley Betting Tips

A couple of seasons ago these two were fighting it out for survival in the Premier League; Leicester stayed up whilst Burnley went down. The rest, as they say, is history with Leicester having just come off the back of their Champions League debut after last season’s heroics whilst Burnley are likely to once again battling for their Premier League survival.

After putting in a rather messy performance away at Liverpool last weekend, Leicester returned to winning ways in Brugge on their Champions League debut – coming away with an impressive 3-0 victory. There had been questions as to whether manager Claudio Ranieri would continue playing 4-4-2 in Europe but he was brave and stuck to his guns – reaping the rewards.

The main beneficiary was deadline day Islam Slimani who played alongside Jamie Vardy at the top of the pitch. The Algerian international fitted seamlessly into Leicester’s style of play with his high energy and work rate. If he can replicate this form in the Premier League then the Foxes will have no trouble challenging in the top half this season.

Leicester, with their counter-attacking style, benefit when they come up against sides who want to take the game to them. However, Saturday’s opponents Burnley are the exact opposite.

We saw Sean Dyche’s tactics come off to absolute perfection against Liverpool just under a month ago when they simply sat in before taking their chances on the counter. As a newly-promoted side, picking up results in home games is absolutely vital for the Clarets.

Points away from home are certainly a bonus for Burnley and it is plainly obvious how they will set up here. 11 men behind the ball, hoping for a chance on the counter and hoping the likes of Steven Defour can create something out of nothing – just like he did against Hull City last week.

More interesting to see will be how Leicester set up for this game. They should be winning this game but going up against compact sides will not suit them. Having said that, they have the players to take games to their opposition and are certainly not limited in that respect.

Riyad Mahrez is one of those players. Leicester’s best piece of business this summer was undoubtedly tying down the Algerian to a new contract in order to ward off some of the big clubs in Europe. He scored two goals against Club Brugge in midweek and has made a pretty decent start to the season.

Usually I would back Jamie Vardy to score for Leicester but I am not sure here. Burnley will not leave space in behind their back-line for him to run onto and so he may find it difficult. Mahrez however should be able to pick up the ball in pockets in front of the Clarets defence and create something – probably for himself. Mahrez to score anytime is 7/4. and well worth a go.

I would also look at Leicester to win without conceding at 31/20. I cannot see Burnley coming out of their shell and causing their opponents any problems on Saturday, whilst the Foxes should be able to convert the numerous chances they will create.

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