Leicester City head into their Championship fixture with Watford on Saturday afternoon looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats.
At a time when the Foxes still sit at the top of the standings, Watford are 13th after finding some form ahead of the November international break.
Match preview
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With 13 wins from 14 league games, the assumption was that Leicester would canter to promotion back to the Premier League with minimal fuss.
However, 1-0 defeats to Leeds United and Middlesbrough has put a different spin on matters, with the Foxes having been caught up by second-placed Ipswich Town.
Although they still possess an eight-point advantage over third, Enzo Maresca's side have lost all momentum and arguably required the international break to regroup.
Even before their double setback, Leicester had only defeated Sunderland and Queens Park Rangers by one-goal margins, and there is a perception that the East Midlands outfit may require a backup plan.
While they have won six out of eight games at the King Power Stadium, just 11 goals have been scored in the process, an area of their game that must improve on familiar territory.
From the perspective of Watford, substantial time has passed since they lasted showed the kind of consistency that they have recently under Valerien Ismael.
A six-game undefeated streak has been put together where they have accumulated 12 points, with their latest success being the 5-0 thrashing of Rotherham United.
Despite being five points adrift of the playoffs, Watford fans are relishing rare continuity and optimism that they are building something under a head coach who does not feel under the same scrutiny as his predecessors.
Nevertheless, that is not to say that Watford do not need to remain on an upward trajectory as Ismael is aware that they ideally need to establish a top-half place as soon as possible.
Team News
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Maresca will almost certainly tinker with his Leicester starting lineup, potentially recalling Jamie Vardy down the middle of the attack.
Abdul Fatawu is also a possible option down the right-hand side, allowing Ricardo Pereira to return to full-back.
The likes of Wilfried Ndidi, Dennis Praet and Yunus Akgun are all expected to remain on the sidelines.
Barring any fitness issues, Ismael may see no reason to make any alterations to his Watford XI for this contest.
Although Rhys Healey and Matheus Martins combined to set up the fifth goal against Rotherham, they will likely remain among the replacements, while Ismael Kone will be assessed after playing 73 minutes for Canada on Tuesday night.
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Hermansen; Pereira, Faes, Vestergaard, Justin; Choudhury, Winks, Dewsbury-Hall; Fatawu, Vardy, Mavididi
Watford possible starting lineup:
Hamer; Andrews, Porteous, Hoedt, Lewis; Livermore, Kayembe, Kone; Asprilla, Rajovic, Sema
We say: Leicester City 2-1 Watford
With a bit of doubt creeping in at Leicester, Ismael and Watford will sense an opportunity. However, we feel that the home side can only have benefitted from the November international break, leading us to predict a hard-fought triumph for the Foxes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Darren Plant
