Leicester City vs Watford Prediction: Leicester will benefit from international break

Leicester City will welcome Watford at King Power Stadium in Game Week 17 of the English Championship. Leicester will be looking to bounce back after two consecutive defeats before the international break. Who will come out on top after 90 minutes?

Leicester's path to promotion seemed smooth with 13 wins from 14 league games. However, recent defeats have changed the situation as they were caught up by Ipswich Town. Despite still having an eight-point advantage over third place, Leicester has lost momentum and needed the international break to regroup. Even before their setbacks, their wins were by narrow margins, raising the question of whether they need a backup plan. While they have performed well at home, they need to improve their goal-scoring. 

It is highly likely that Maresca will make changes to his Leicester City starting lineup for the upcoming match. One possible change could be recalling Jamie Vardy as the central striker. Another option is to bring in Abdul Fatawu on the right-hand side, which would allow Ricardo Pereira to return to his usual position as a full-back. Players like Wilfried Ndidi, Dennis Praet, and Yunus Akgun are expected to remain on the bench.

Potential Leicester City starting lineup: Hermansen; Pereira, Faes, Vestergaard, Justin; Choudhury, Winks, Dewsbury-Hall; Fatawu, Vardy, Mavididi

On the other hand, Watford has shown rare consistency under Valerien Ismael, with a six-game undefeated streak and accumulating 12 points. Despite being five points away from the playoffs, Watford fans are optimistic about the team's progress under a less scrutinized head coach. However, they still need to aim for a top-half position.

Unless there are any fitness concerns, Ismael might not see any reason to make alterations to his Watford lineup for this game. However, Rhys Healey and Matheus Martins, despite their contribution in setting up the fifth goal against Rotherham, are likely to stay as substitutes. Ismael Kone's fitness will be assessed after playing for 73 minutes with the Canadian team on Tuesday night.

Potential Watford starting lineup: Hamer; Andrews, Porteous, Hoedt, Lewis; Livermore, Kayembe, Kone; Asprilla, Rajovic, Sema

With some uncertainty surrounding Leicester, Ismael and Watford might perceive a chance to take advantage. However, we believe that the home team would have benefited from the November international break, leading us to predict a hard-fought victory for the Foxes. Expect only one of the team to score in this game.