Leicester v Bournemouth - preview

TEAM NEWS

Leicester's Jamie Vardy has been struggling with a virus this week but the Premier League's joint top goalscorer is expected to play.

Jeffrey Schlupp and Matty James remain the Foxes only certain absentees due to respective hamstring and knee problems.

Bournemouth have reported no fresh injuries following defeat at Arsenal.

Lee Tomlin was an unused substitute at the Emirates on his comeback from injury, while Glenn Murray and Junior Stanislas are also options to start.

MOTD COMMENTATOR'S NOTES

Guy Mowbray: "Never mind 'Happy New Year', for these two clubs the old one could hardly have been happier.

"Leicester's challenge now is to maintain the standards shown throughout 2015 and that starts by making sure that any talk of a'wobble' is stifled.

"Everyone knows it won't be easy against a Bournemouth side that have started to get to grips with top flight football - rewards for putting in the hard yards.

"Opta's 'halfway' stats show the Cherries cover more ground and record more sprints than any other Premier League side. Mix that with Leicester's non-stop energy and it could be a tough one to keep up with.

"Thank goodness it's on the second of January rather than the first!"

Twitter: @Guymowbray 

WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri "You would love it if I said 'we are champions'. No, I say 'we want to beat Bournemouth'.

"At the beginning of last season we were only talking about relegation, this season it's top of the league. It's important to maintain the right balance.

"We can say 'start to win the title' but it's not our job, our job is to win the next match. The other [clubs'] jobs are to win the title. We have to fight for the next match and we want to win. That's our philosophy."

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe: "We haven't trained since Arsenal, not the lads that played, anyway. With the fixture workload we really had to protect our players this week to make sure we go into the Leicester game with some energy, so we are toning down training.

"2015 was a year I am sure will be remembered by everybody, it has been one of milestones for the club, and we hope to make more - the big one will be to stay in the league, that is our target and is what we are trying to achieve in the second half of the season."

LAWRO'S PREDICTION

Everyone will be wondering whether Leicester's bubble has burst after picking up one point and scoring no goals in their last two games.

You could argue that as well as Watford and Leicester have done at the top end of the table, Bournemouth have been just as impressive. They will have had an extra day off as well and that could be crucial in the busy festive period.

Lawro's full predictions v Match of the Day commentator Steve Wilson

• Think you can do better than Lawro? Predict the score for this match and the rest of this round's Premier League fixtures in ourPredictor game.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• This is the team's second Premier League meeting. The first, which was in August, ended 1-1.
• Prior to that, Leicester had won the four previous clashes between the sides.
• Bournemouth's last win over Leicester was a 2-1 win in Division Two in March 1989.

Leicester

• Leicester have lost just one of their last 12 league games.
• They have lost just once at home this season - going down 5-2 to Arsenal in September.
• The Foxes' blank against Manchester City on Tuesday was the first time in 15 home league games that they had failed to score.
• After scoring in 11 consecutive Premier League games, Jamie Vardy has scored only one goal in his last five.
• Leicester have been awarded a league-high seven penalties in the Premier League in 2015-16.
• The Foxes have won a league-high 10 points from losing positions, whereas Bournemouth's solitary point is the lowest.
• With 13 goals and seven assists, Riyad Mahrez has been involved in more goals than any other Premier League player in 2015-16.

Bournemouth

• Bournemouth's loss at Arsenal last Monday was their only defeat in their last seven league games (W3, D3).
• The Cherries have taken seven points from a possible 12 in their last four away games.
• Only Sunderland have conceded more than Bournemouth's total of 34 goals in this season's Premier League.
• Bournemouth have kept just one clean sheet in their 10 Premier League away games in 2015-16 - in a 1-0 win at Chelsea.
• Eddie Howe's side have let in an joint league-high 11 goals from set-pieces, yet only Crystal Palace (11) have scored more from set-plays than the 10 scored by the Cherries.
• According to Opta statistics, Bournemouth have outrun their opponents in all 19 of their Premier League games in 2015-16.