Leicester v Manchester City preview: Jamie Vardy targets Foxes start

Premier League top scorer Jamie Vardy is expected to be fit for Leicester when they host Manchester City on Tuesday.

The striker was withdrawn after 69 minutes of the Boxing Day defeat to Liverpool and manager Claudio Ranieri revealed afterwards that the England international was playing with a fever.

The Foxes have not lost back-to-back games this season but a win for Man City would draw the two sides level on 38 points.

Man City, however, have not won an away game in the league since they beat Crystal Palace on September 12.

Team news

Riyad Mahrez, who was substituted against the Reds because of fatigue, should also be fit for the Foxes.

Danny Drinkwater resumed training with the team on Sunday after a hamstring injury and could feature after missing the last two games, but Jeff Schlupp (hamstring) remains out.

Man City have injury concerns of their own as captain Vincent Kompany lasted less than 10 minutes of their Boxing Day win over Sunderland after coming on as a substitute.

The defender suffered a recurrence of the calf injury that kept him out for eight games and could now face another spell on the sidelines.

But striker Sergio Aguero, who is being eased back after heel trouble, could feature after being an unused substitute at the weekend.

Defender Pablo Zabaleta and midfielder Fernando are back in training but not yet match fit.

Opta stats

Leicester lost both of their league meetings with Man City last season, but they've not lost three successive league games against the Citizens since August 1961.

Manchester City are unbeaten in their last five league away trips to Leicester (W3 D2).

Leicester ended 2012, 2013 and 2014 with a victory in their final league game of the calendar year.

Vincent Kompany had to be subbed off against Sunderland

Man City have not suffered a defeat in their final league game of a calendar year since a 1-4 home loss to Charlton Athletic in December 2000.

Leicester have scored in each of their last 14 Premier League home games.

Merson's prediction

We have to start holding our hands up regarding Leicester. The Liverpool result was a setback but they've got a great chance to put that right straight away at the King Power Stadium, where they've been superb.

If they go on to beat Manchester City, then we have to really start taking them seriously, and they would have to be second favourites for the league. I'm going for a draw.

PAUL PREDICTS: 2-2 

Betting

Manchester City are Sky Bet's 17/20 favourites for victory with high-flying Leicester 16/5 while the draw is priced at 29/10. Pellegrini's men are now joint 6/5 favourites to secure the title with the Foxes 10/11 for a top four finish despite suffering their first away defeat of the season at Liverpool on Boxing Day.

Vardy and Aguero are subjects of pre-match Price Boosts at 13/2 and 9/4 respectively in the score and win market, while Mahrez is also boosted from 7/1 to 9/1 to score first. Mahrez is also the pick of Sky Sports pundits Jamie Redknapp, Matt Le Tissier and Phil Thompson to score first

Leicester City’s SQUAD Sheet vs Man City

City’s SQUAD Sheet vs Man City

Marc Albrighton insists Leicester can hit back against Manchester City and warned their title rivals the Foxes will refuse to surrender.

They host City on Tuesday after suffering just a second defeat of the season at Liverpool on Boxing Day.

The Foxes remain top of the Barclays Premier League by two points as Arsenal blew their chance to move to the summit when they lost 4-0 at Southampton.

Saturday’s defeat ended Leicester’s nine-match unbeaten run and was their first loss on the road since March but Albrighton believes it is a chance to assess their title credentials.

“We see this as a test. There will probably be a lot of pundits and media that might think now we are going to lie down and relax with our 30-something points,” said the winger.

“We’re not a side to do that. We’ve got Manchester City on Tuesday and we look forward to bouncing back against them.

“To be honest, I don’t think we will play another game this season with pressure. We’ve got ourselves in a brilliant situation and we are doing fantastic. Everyone was tipping us to be down there at the start of the season, but we’re right in the mix and we deserve to be where we are.”

Danny Simpson also expects a response from Claudio Ranieri’s side, who could have Danny Drinkwater back after a hamstring injury, after Christian Benteke’s winner at Anfield.

The boyhood Manchester United fan is eager to face City and believes it is the perfect game following a defeat.

“No-one likes losing, we showed that from the end of last season and we will fight to the end,” the right-back told Foxes Player. “We always believe we can win every game and that’s not going to change because we got beaten. The manager said to us to keep going and we have a great team and squad.

“They are a great team, the players they have got are world class but there’s nothing better than to come up against some of their players at home after a defeat. We’ll react in the right way.

“I know the kind of players we have in our dressing room. I’m pretty sure the fans will see us from the whistle on Tuesday getting straight into them.”

Leicester City (from): Schmeichel, Schwarzer, Benalouane, De Laet, Fuchs, Huth, Morgan, Simpson, Wasilewski, Albrighton, Drinkwater, Dyer, Inler, Kante, King, Mahrez, Kramaric, Okazaki, Ulloa, Vardy.

Man City SQUAD Sheet vs Foxes

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini is convinced Leicester have what it takes to stay the course in the title race.

Pellegrini has warned his players they must approach Tuesday’s trip to the King Power Stadium as they would any other top-of-the-table showdown.

The Foxes were the Barclays Premier League’s surprise leaders at Christmas and they held onto that spot on Boxing Day despite slipping up at Liverpool.

That was only their second defeat of a campaign in which City – many people’s favourites for the crown – have already lost five times and Pellegrini does not believe one bad result will prompt the slump some predict.

Pellegrini, whose side moved within three points of Leicester by thrashing Sunderland 4-1 on Saturday, said: “Before that they beat Chelsea and drew against (Manchester) United.

“We must consider Leicester not thinking that they lost on Saturday and could collapse, but as a team that will have options to be fighting for the title until the end. With that mentality we must try to play the game.

“They are top of the table because they deserve to be. They have important players in a very good moment with high performance.”

Leicester’s remarkable rise has been fuelled by the form of attack duo Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez. Vardy was the competition’s leading scorer with 15 goals after 18 games with Mahrez just two behind. In addition Mahrez had weighed in with seven assists and Vardy three.

Yet while they may provide a lot of the spark for Claudio Ranieri’s side, Pellegrini is aware there is much more to the team.

The Chilean said: “Maybe both of them are in a very good performance but I don’t think they could do it if the complete team was not performing well. They are important players but we must think a lot of different things and not just two players.

“We must think about Leicester as a team and hope if we repeat the performance we did on Saturday we can beat them – but it will be a very tough game.”

City got back on track against Sunderland after a disappointing loss to Arsenal last Monday.

The gloss was taken off that victory, however, by the loss of captain Vincent Kompany with a recurrence of a calf injury just nine minutes after coming on for his first appearance in nine games.

City are again likely to be without the key defender although the full extent of the problem is not yet clear.

The other main concern is striker Sergio Aguero, who looked ineffectual on his return from a heel injury against Arsenal and did not get off the bench in the Sunderland game.

But Pellegrini said: “Kun was on the bench because if we needed him he could have played in the second half, but we have to play Leicester three days later – a difficult game – and 10 games during January.

“He had a small problem so I think it was better not to take any risk and we were winning 3-0 at half-time, so I think it was better for him to rest. He will be 100 per cent on Tuesday.”

Manchester City (from): Caballero, Hart, Wright, Clichy, Demichelis, Kolarov, Mangala, Otamendi, Sagna, De Bruyne, Delph, Fernandinho, Navas, Roberts, Silva, Toure, Zuculini, Aguero, Bony, Iheanacho, Sterling.