High-flyers Leicester City will look to continue their impressive early-season form when they travel to the Britannia Stadium to meet Stoke City on Saturday afternoon.
Currently sitting second in the Premier League table, the Foxes will make the trip full of confidence as they look to pile more misery on the Potters, who have collected just two points from their opening five games.
Stoke City
© Getty Images
A summer full of impressive signings and optimism has quickly been put in the past by Mark Hughes, who must surely be concerned by the form of his side in the early stages of the Premier League campaign.
After leading the club to their highest ever points tally last season, the pressure was on Hughes to prove that there was more to come from his squad, and the club handed him the backing he required by bringing in the likes of Ibrahim Afellay, Marco van Ginkel and Xherdan Shaqiri.
However, the new-look Stoke side are taking time to gel and the performances have been disappointing in their opening five games, but Hughes will be confident that the improvement is just around the corner as they continue their search for a first league win of the season.
Much of the attention has been paid to Shaqiri, who is trusted to be the main creative force for the Potters, but it was another frustrating week for the Swiss midfielder as he struggled to make an impact in Stoke's 2-0 loss to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium last weekend.
Battling draws against Tottenham Hotspur and Norwich City have prevented the Potters from going pointless in the first five matches, and the club's supporters will be concerned that last season's form is a distant memory should they fail to beat the Foxes on Saturday afternoon.
Six games without a clean sheet will be a worry for Hughes, whose side are feeling the absence of Ryan Shawcross, but it is the pressure on the new signings which continues to grow after a frustrating run of matches.
Recent form: LDDLL
Recent form (all competitions): LDDWLL
Leicester City
© Getty Images
A remarkable start to the season continued for Leicester last weekend as they produced a memorable fightback to claim a 3-2 win over Aston Villa in a thrilling match at the King Power Stadium.
After falling behind to goals from Jack Grealish and Carles Gil, Leicester fans would have been forgiven for thinking that their impressive form was set to come to an abrupt halt, but the Foxes fought back impressively to clinch all three points with a late winner from Nathan Dyer.
It was another example of the progress made by Claudio Ranieri, who has already silenced the majority of his critics after replacing Nigel Pearson in the summer. Many tipped the Italian to struggle on his return to the Premier League, but Leicester's form has been the story of the season so far as they look to build on their escape from relegation.
The Foxes have won three and drawn two of their five league games, and they currently sit just two points behind leaders Manchester City, but almost inevitably, the feeling is that this run will not last forever as they mix it with the sides looking to qualify for the Champions League.
In truth, the Leicester fans will surely be happy with not being in trouble at the other end of the table and anything other than a relegation battle should be considered a success for Ranieri, who was on the back foot as soon as he arrived at the club.
Ranieri's methods are clearly the right approach for this squad as the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy continue to produce some of the best performances in the league, and the visitors will be confident of collecting three more points this weekend when they travel to the Britannia Stadium.
Recent form: WWDDW
Recent form (all competitions): WWDWDW
Team News
© Getty Images
As Hughes looks to produce a response to Stoke's third defeat of the season, changes appear to be likely and Bojan could be handed his first Premier League start since damaging his cruciate ligament in January.
Peter Crouch was an unused substitute in the loss to Arsenal, but the striker is another candidate for a recall as Hughes considers freshening up his attack.
Leicester have no new injury concerns ahead of the trip to the Britannia Stadium, with only Matty James unavailable as he continues his recovery from a knee injury.
Despite needing a late comeback to claim the win over Villa, Ranieri could decide to name an unchanged side should Dyer be forced to settle for a place on the bench once again.
Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Butland, Bardsley, Cameron, Muniesa, Pieters, Van Ginkel, Whelan, Shaqiri, Bojan, Diouf, Crouch
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; De Laet, Huth, Morgan, Schlupp; Mahrez, Drinkwater, Inler, Albrighton; Okazaki, Vardy
Head To Head
It was a successful fixture for the away sides last season as both Stoke and Leicester claimed 1-0 victories on the road in the two games between the teams.
Since March 2007, the Potters have lost just one match against Leicester in all competitions and recorded three wins in that stretch of seven games.
Video Preview
Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:
We say: Stoke 1-1 Leicester
Leicester will be full of confidence, but their shock start to the season is certain to come to an end at some point, despite their impressive response to falling two goals behind last week. Stoke will be desperate to find their best form in front of the Britannia Stadium crowd, and the points could be shared if the Potters improve at the back.
No Data Analysis info
