Preview: Leicester City v EvertonTeam news, form guide, stats and more ahead of Sunday's Premier League showdown.
Leicester City vs Everton
Leicester City v Everton
Premier League
Sunday 29 October 2017
4pm kick-off
TEAM NEWSDavid Unsworth has revealed midfielder Ross Barkley could be available in “three or four weeks”.
The 23-year-old has missed the entire campaign to date with a hamstring injury but has worked tirelessly behind the scenes at USM Finch Farm in order to return to fitness.
Seamus Coleman (leg) and Yannick Bolasie (knee) are alongside Barkley in the treatment room and Unsworth confirmed they remain longer term absentees.
Speaking ahead of the trip to Leicester City on Sunday, Unsworth said: “We hope Ross is three or four weeks away from being in the squad.
“The long term injuries are as they were, but Ross is closer to coming back.
“They are all still working really hard in the gym. But with Yannick Bolasie and Seamus Coleman, you are talking months not weeks.”
Unsworth has also confirmed that Morgan Schneiderlin is back in contention after missing the midweek Carabao Cup defeat to Chelsea through illness.
The midfielder is joined in returning to the squad by Idrissa Gana Gueye, who also sat out the 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge after his red card against Arsenal.
FORMEverton travel to the King Power Stadium on the back of Wednesday’s defeat to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup. The Blues went down 2-1 to the Premier League champions but there was a much-improved performance, with 19-year-old Beni Baningime catching the eye on his senior debut.
In the league, Everton will be hoping to bounce back from a disappointing 5-2 home defeat to Arsenal last weekend. Rooney had put the Toffees in front with a superb curling effort past Petr Cech, before the Gunners replied with goals from Nacho Monreal and Mesut Ozil. Idrissa Gana Gueye was then sent off for a second bookable offence and Arsenal subsequently took control with efforts from Alexandre Lacazette and Aaron Ramsey. Oumar Niasse pulled one back but Alexis Sanchez established the visitors’ three-goal advantage with virtually the last kick of the contest.
Leicester City, meanwhile, progressed through to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup with a 3-1 win over Championship side Leeds United this week. The Foxes went a goal down following Pablo Hernandez’s 20-yard strike, but were level four minutes later when summer signing Kelechi Iheanacho equalised. Leicester made sure there would be no upset in the second half, as Islam Slimani and Riyad Mahrez secured the win for the 2015/16 Premier League champions.
Leicester travelled to Swansea City last time out in the Premier League and came away with an impressive 2-1 win, courtesy of a Shinji Okazaki strike and Federico Fernandez own goal. It was Leicester’s first Premier League victory since 19 August, when they beat Brighton 2-0 at the King Power.
ONE TO WATCH: SHINJI OKAZAKIStarting his career in his home country, Japan, at Shimizu S-Pulse, Okazaki moved to Europe to join Stuttgart in 2011, where he played 63 times and scored 10 goals during a two-year stay.
In 2013, the Japanese international moved to Mainz and managed to score on his debut in a 3–2 win against former club, Stuttgart, in the opening match of the 2013/14 Bundesliga season.
In 2015, Okazaki joined Leicester City, where he became a a key cog in the club’s title-winning campaign, scoring the first of his 12 goals for the season against Sunderland on the opening day. Other important strikes, such as an over-head kick against Newcastle, helped propel Leicester to their remarkable league winning feat.
Okazaki has started in blistering form this term, having netted five times already, with four of those efforts coming in the league. The forward grabbed what turned out to be the winner in their previous game against Swansea.
LAST TIME: LEICESTER CITY 0-2 EVERTONDuring the busy Christmas period, Everton gave their fans some festive cheer thanks to goals from Kevin Mirallas and Romelu Lukaku.
The first that day came as Mirallas pounced on a long-ball from goalkeeper Joel Robles to finish low into the bottom corner past Kasper Schmeichel.
Leicester pushed for an equaliser with Daniel Amartey, Leonardo Ulloa and Demarai Gray forcing fine saves from Robles. But, as the home side threw men forward, they were left exposed at the back and that allowed Lukaku to latch on to Ross Barkley’s pass and seal a 2-0 victory.
MAN IN THE MIDDLE: ANDRE MARRINERThe Birmingham-born referee has officiated more than 250 Premier League games since his first appointment back in 2004.
He has been involved in many high-profile games, such as the 2011 Championship play-off final between Blackpool and Cardiff City, as well as the 2013 FA Cup final between Wigan Athletic and Manchester City.
This season, Marriner sent off Jonjo Shelvey in Newcastle United’s game with Tottenham Hotspur on the opening day.
He has refereed Everton once so far this campaign - the 4-0 defeat to Manchester United in September.