Liverpool vs Leicester City. Premier League.
AnfieldAttendance51,232.
Saturday 10 September 2016 18:55, UK
Liverpool will play their first home match of the season with Premier League champions Leicester the visitors to a renovated Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp's side played their first three matches of the season away from home as work on the new Main Stand at Anfield was completed.
But with the building work completed and 54,074 fans inside Anfield, Liverpool will be looking to start their home campaign with victory against Claudio Ranieri's men.
Leicester come into this fixture off the back of their first win of the campaign - a 2-1 victory over Swansea before the international break.
And the champions could be boosted with club-record signing Islam Slimani set to make his debut after joining from Sporting Lisbon on Deadline Day.
Liverpool midfielder Emre Can and defender Ragnar Klavan will not be fit to face Leicester.
The Germany international injured an ankle in the EFL Cup win over Burton on August 23 and will not be ready while Estonia centre-back Klavan reported back from international duty with a gashed and bruised knee.
Goalkeeper Loris Karius has returned to training after surgery on a broken hand and is likely to be on the bench.
Kasper Schmeichel is available for Leicester after recovering from a hernia operation.
The goalkeeper came off in the Foxes' 2-1 win over Swansea last month and missed Denmark's 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Armenia but is fit and will keep Ron-Robert Zieler on the bench for the Premier League match at Anfield.
Nampalys Mendy is out with an ankle injury while Jeff Schlupp will not be risked by boss Ranieri as he continues to recover from a muscle strain.
Liverpool were one of just two teams to beat Leicester City in the Premier League last season (along with Arsenal), winning 1-0 at Anfield in December.
After winning three league games in a row at Anfield between 1997 and 2000, Leicester have failed to win any of their last five there (D1 L4).
Liverpool have won more games than any other side against the reigning Premier League champions (19).
The champions have not won a league game at Anfield since Manchester United won 1-0 in December 2007 (D3 L5 since).
No team has conceded more goals in the Premier League this season than Liverpool (six - level with Watford and Stoke).
Jamie Vardy has found the net six times in his last seven Premier League games, and scored both of Leicester's goals in their 2-0 win over Liverpool in February.
Only George Boyd (233) has made more sprints than Liverpool's Roberto Firmino in the top-flight this season (214).
Liverpool have covered more distance than any other Premier League side this season (346km).
Ranieri has won just one of his five previous league games at Anfield, back in August 2003 (D1 L3).
The Foxes have collected 46 points in 2016, more than any other Premier League side (W13 D7 L2).
Liverpool have been so up and down already, and it depends which team turns up on Saturday.
Against Tottenham, they missed a load of chances and should have won the game. To their credit, they got a great win at Arsenal but then dropped three points at Burnley, so they need to get some consistency.
Of the two, I think we'll see a performance closer to the one we saw at the Emirates. They have the players going forward and Leicester will be a bit cagey.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (Sky Bet odds 7/1)
