LEICESTER will be presented with the opportunity to leapfrog champions Man City in the Premier League table on Friday night – temporarily at least – when they square off with Southampton at St Mary's
Brendan Rodgers team have been heavily touted to gatecrash the traditional top-six this term and Leicester have backed up their ante-post hype thus far after picking up 17 points from their opening nine games.
Three of that total were collected last weekend at home to Burnley when the Foxes fought back to triumph 2-1 – a result which catapulted Leicester into the top-three of the English top-flight.
Yet, Rodgers has watched his side lose their last two league games away from the King Power Stadium, after being squeezed out by Manchester United and Liverpool respectively, however, the Foxes will be on the hunt for an away win on Friday night against struggling Southampton.
The Saints start the weekend hovering above the relegation zone and find themselves without a win in four leagues games and they have yet to pick up three points on their own patch in four attempts thus far.
However, Ralph Hasenhuttl's team were the better side in last week's 1-1 draw away at Wolves – a result that means seven of the eight points that Southampton have amassed to date have come away from their St Mary's home.
Hasenhuttl is in desperate need of some home comfort, however, the Saints are an unfancied 2/1 (Ladbrokes) for an overdue south coast success here and share of the spoils is also odds-against at 5/2 (UniBet)
Leicester have reached the lofty heights of third place in the Premier League having won only one of their four away matches so far and they are priced at 7/5 (SportNation) to rack up their first win on the road since defeating Sheffield 2-United at Bramall lane back in August.
Backing over 2.5 goals would have landed in Leicester's last away day win and it's an angle that would have banked profit in three out Southampton's four games at home this season.
A repeat of that outcome on Friday night could be worth a flutter at 10/11 (Bet 365) however, I'm more attracted to the 11/10 (PaddyPower) on offer for Leicester to score over 1.5 goals against a shaky Saints side.
The hosts have only registered one clean-sheet in their last six league outings and they have looked particularly vulnerable at St Mary's where they have leaked 10 goals in four games – and I fancy Leicester to add to that.
Brendan Rodgers has a wealth of attacking talent at his disposal as well as a number of technically gifted midfielders and two very adept and attacking full-backs – all of whom could punish a Saints rearguard that lacks pace, much like Bournemouth and Chelsea did during their recent visits to this venue.
Jamie Vardy has been in fine form for the Foxes recently and after scoring six goals in his last nine appearances the Leicester livewire will be looking to get in behind a Southampton backline who's glaring mobility issues regularly sees them struggle to shackle speedy attacks.
The Leicester striker is 10/3 (UniBet) to grab the opening goal of this game, however, given that 23 of Southampton's 29 Premier League games under Hasenhuttel's watch have seen both teams to score, it may be more shrewd to side with Vardy to score anytime at an eye-catching 5/4 (Betfred)
Vardy and Co could once again demonstrate why they are a force to be reckoned with this season when coming up against a Southampton side who look like they are gearing up for a grueling Winter.
Yet, the home team will have their moments in this tussle – and they will take confidence from the fact that they have hit the back of the net in their last 10 games in all competitions.
However, given Southampton's aforementioned defensive vulnerability, coupled with their feeble home form, I suspect the Saints could be put to the sword when they come up against the flying Foxes – and that makes the 7/5 (SportNation) on offer for a Leicester win here just a little too tempting to pass up on.
This English Premier League match between Southampton and Leicester will be played on Oct 25, 2019 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Southampton vs Leicester prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
