Leicester City and Brentford get the Premier League weekend underway when they meet at the King Power Stadium on Friday night.
The Foxes remain rooted in deep relegation trouble, while recent positive form has moved Brentford a clear distance away from the bottom three.
Match preview
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Despite suffering a ninth defeat in 10 league games last weekend, there were some positives for Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy to take from their 2-0 defeat at home to Arsenal.
Leicester kept the title challengers at bay for over 80 minutes, before eventually succumbing to two late Mikel Merino strikes, leaving them in the relegation zone, where they would go on to fall to 19th.
That result last Saturday was Leicester's fifth straight defeat at home in the league, leaving them vulnerable to setting a new unwanted club record sixth if they lose again in this one.
Those five defeats have seen the Foxes concede 11 goals without reply too, and only one team has ever lost six straight home league games without conceding in top-flight history (Norwich City in between June 2020 and August 2021), with no club managing it across the same campaign.
Nevertheless, even with all those bleak statistics, Leicester are still within touching distance of safety heading into the weekend, and playing in the Friday night slot allows them the opportunity to move out of the bottom three before Ipswich Town and Wolves play.
A win would take Van Nistelrooy's men a point above 17th-place Wolves in the four-horse race for survival, and the hosts are unbeaten in their last four home league games against Brentford.
However, the tide could be turning in this fixture, because Brentford's 4-1 win over Leicester earlier this season ended a 12-game winless run against the Foxes.
It also provides the Bees with an opportunity to do the league double over their upcoming opponents for the first time in a whopping 72 years, and their recent away form suggests that is a real possibility.
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Thomas Frank's side became notorious with having the league's best home form and worst away form earlier this season, but that has completely flipped in recent weeks.
After taking just two points from a possible 27 on the road, Brentford have now won three in a row away from the Gtech, against Southampton, Crystal Palace, and last weekend against West Ham United in a 1-0 success.
In a dominant display, Kevin Schade got the ball rolling early on, scoring Brentford's seventh goal inside the first 10 minutes this season - a league-high - and it could have been four or five before the break, considering Yoane Wissa had two goals disallowed for tight offside calls.
Another away trip here will give the Bees the chance to win four straight away league games for the first time since they were a League One club in September 2011, and it is something they have never managed in the top flight.
Had Brentford's stunning home form not fallen off a cliff just as they got their act together on the road, Frank's men could have been competing for Europe, but instead, they remain in the bottom half ahead of this one.
Hopes of a late European push are not completely dead, though, especially if they can win here to close the gap on eighth-placed Fulham to two points, and in their second Friday fixture of the season, the visitors will look to continue their excellent set of results on this day since promotion - taking 13 points from five matches.
Team News
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Leicester full-back James Justin will be assessed ahead of this one after being forced off in the first half against Arsenal with an ankle injury, so Woyo Coulibaly could be in line for a full debut after arriving from Parma last month.
The returning Wilfred Ndidi has had a big impact since his comeback from a lengthy injury in the last two matches, making Leicester much more competitive in the engine room, and that is set to see Harry Winks remain on the bench here.
Ricardo Pereira (muscle) and Abdul Fatawu (knee) are still sidelined with long-term injuries, with the latter ruled out for the rest of the season.
Brentford's Sepp van den Berg will undergo a late fitness test after he sustained a knee injury in the win at West Ham, but Ethan Pinnock's well-timed return should see them cope well if he is absent.
Apart from that, Frank is likely to go with an unchanged side after an impressive display at the London Stadium, where Schade was back in the goals ahead of facing the opponents he scored a hat trick against in the reverse.
Mathias Jensen is yet to win his place back in midfield after returning from injury, while Josh Dasilva, Igor Thiago and full-back pairing Aaron Hickey and Rico Henry remain on the treatment table.
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Hermansen; Coulibaly, Faes, Okoli, Kristiansen; Soumare, Ndidi; Buonanotte, El Khannouss, Mavididi; Vardy
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Flekken; Ajer, Collins, Pinnock, Lewis-Potter; Norgaard, Janelt; Mbeumo, Damsgaard, Schade; Wissa
We say: Leicester City 1-3 Brentford
Leicester are unbeaten in four at home to Brentford, and have scored in 17 of the last 18 head-to-heads, suggesting their long wait for a home goal could end here.
However, after losing 4-1 to the Bees in the reverse fixture, it is clear that past history is unlikely to come into the equation for this one, and it could be another tough evening for the hosts against one of the strongest away teams of late in the Premier League.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
