Leicester City v Liverpool: How will Shakespeare fare in audition?

If there’s one thing Leicester City fans deserve right about now, it’s three points in the Premier League. Things haven’t been easy for the Foxes of late, and the King Power Stadium will play host to a strange atmosphere in the side’s first game since the sacking of Claudio Ranieri.

It won’t be a walk in the park for the reigning Premier League Champions – far from it, in fact. They welcome to the East Midlands a Liverpool side looking to force themselves back into the top four.

And the visitors, priced as the 8/13 favourites to take all three points, head into this one off the back of an impressive 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur last time out, with a brace from Sadio Mane.

The Reds will be glad to have him available for selection again, after spending almost a month away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.

It’s 15/2 for him to score two or more for the second game in a row, although a clean sheet for the hosts would go a long way towards them grabbing all three points.

Our traders don’t seem to think that will happen though, and they make the Foxes 17/4 here to taste victory for the first time in the league in 2017.

Were they to do exactly that, we could well see interim manager Craig Shakespeare’s odds for the permanent role take a fall.

Having been with the club since 2011, Ranieri’s former assistant will take over managerial duties for the foreseeable future. We make him a 12/1 outsider for the role on a long-term basis right now. But this is a man who knows the club all too well, and was there two seasons ago when Leicester defied the odds to avoid relegation from the top-flight.

Liverpool played Leicester off the park the last time this pair met, winning 4-1 at Anfield. 22/1 says we see a repeat of that scoreline, while the Foxes won this fixture 2-0 last year.

Jamie Vardy was on the scoresheet scored both goals for the hosts on that night, and he’ll head into this game having netted his first ever Champions League goal last week away at Sevilla.

It’s 17/2 for the England international to open the scoring here, while you can get the same price for him to score in a home win.

They’ll head into this match at arguably their lowest point in recent years. But Shakespeare will be attempting to rally his troops for one final push – starting now.

Click here for a full list of Leicester City v Liverpool odds.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing