Super Sunday betting preview & tips: Mark O'Haire previews Man City v Leicester with latest odds, prediction & best bets

2pts Manchester City -1 handicap at 8/11

1pt Kevin De Bruyne 2+ shots on-target at 5/4

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Manchester City v Leicester

• 1630 BST kick-off on Sky Sports
• Match Odds: Home 1/4 | Draw 5/1 | Away 17/2

Man City sent out an early statement of intent last Monday night as the Citizens started their Premier League campaign with an eye-catching 3-1 success at Wolves. The Blue Moon suffered a costly defeat at Molineux in 2019/20 and their curtain-raiser had all the warning signs of being another banana-skin with Pep Guardiola’s group missing key personnel.

With Sergio Aguero, Aymeric Laporte, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva absent, Guardiola showed plenty of respect to Wolves by effectively fielding a back-six with Fernandinho and Rodri protecting in holding midfield. The system allowed Kevin De Bruyne to flourish in forward areas and City were exceptional from the first whistle in the Black Country.

Of course, a second-half downturn was to be expected considering it was City’s first fixture of the campaign. Wolves put plenty of pressure on after the interval but Pep’s posse held firm to collect a vital three points and deserve recognition for their display; landing nine attempts on target and looking close to their devastating best in attack.

Despite their domination of the ball, City still aren’t completely trustworthy from a defensive standpoint. Nevertheless, the anticipated return of Laporte ahead of Sunday’s showdown with Leicester should give the hosts more protection out of possession.

Leicester boast maximum points from their opening two tussles, and whilst results have appeared impressive on paper, the Foxes haven’t been quite so exceptional when digging deeper. It took time for Brendan Rodgers’ boys to get going at West Brom before two penalties massaged the final score, and their 4-2 Burnley victory was also a touch generous.

The Clarets arrived at the King Power without five regular starters, including both centre-halves, and lost Robbie Brady before half-time to further deplete their resources. Even so, the under strength Burnley outfit still managed five attempts on target, winning the shot count 16-14 despite enjoying just 32% of the ball.

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Jonny Evans’ timely return from suspension will bolster the Leicester ranks, although news that Wilfred Ndidi could be out for up to 12 weeks is a hammer blow for Rodgers with Nampalys Mendy a notable downgrade when occupying similar positions. In fact, Ndidi’s absence is what tips me towards my first selection on Sunday: Man City -1 at 8/11.

Leicester were beaten in all six meetings with top-three teams last term – three of which arrived by a margin of two goals or more. They regularly flopped against the Premier League’s leading lights, taking top honours just once in 12 against top-seven finishers and the guests head to Manchester having suffered six defeats in the past seven head-to-heads.

Man City covered this line in 11 of their 19 Etihad encounters in 2019/20 – Liverpool, Arsenal and Leicester all departed with defeats by two goals or more – keeping clean sheets along the way in 10 of those home outings. They should be well capable of repeating the feat on Sunday should they pick up where they left off at half-time at Molineux.

Elsewhere, the imperious De Bruyne could be underrated in the shots on target market to land two or more should Guardiola continue to ask the Belgian to play a more advanced role. The PFA Players' Player of the Year is on penalty and set-piece duty and all four of his strikes at goal against Wolves were on target, suggesting 5/4 could be overpriced.

Last season, De Bruyne averaged over three shots per-game and also hit five on target during his side's disappointing Champions League exit against Lyon. With Leicester giving up too many chances to a bare-boned Burnley only seven days ago, KDB is likely to be given enough opportunities in front of goal to make a mark.

Prediction: Manchester City 3-1 Leicester (Sky Bet odds: 17/2)

Best Bets

Manchester City -1 handicap at 8/11

Kevin De Bruyne 2+ shots on-target at 5/4

Odds correct as of 1447 BST on 24/9/20

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