Ruud’s Leicester City take on bottom-placed Wolves.

[introduction]

Leicester City vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers kicks off at 15:00 [GMT] on Sunday, December 22, at the King Power Stadium.

[away]

Luck finally ran out for Gary O’Neil after a 2-1 home defeat against newly-promoted Ipswich Town led to his dismissal. The club announced the well-travelled Vitor Pereira as his replacement, and his first assignment will be ending a four-match losing streak [WLLLL]. “This is a challenging moment for the club, and we want to thank Vitor for taking on this responsibility,” a club statement read. Currently in 18th place with just 9 points [2W, 3D, 11L], Wolves are already five points adrift of safety after 16 matches. The biggest problem that the visitors have encountered all season is their bleeding defence which has conceded a league-high 40 goals this season. The new manager will hope to solve this problem from the get-go, but he will have to make do without left-back Rayan Aït-Nouri, who was sent off in the loss to Ipswich. With just a few training sessions before Sunday’s game, Pereira might likely stick with O’Neil’s 3—4—2—1, having Jørgen Strand Larsen in attack.

[home]

Leicester City’s 4-0 loss against Newcastle United last Saturday handed Ruud van Nistelrooy his first defeat in the Premier League as a manager. Despite being down by just one at the break, the Foxes could not deal with the wave of attack from the Magpies, as they conceded three more by the hour mark. “A lot of the chances they created were from our ball losses, and they got quick in the counterattack,” Ruud van Nistelrooy said after the game. A worrying stat for van Nistelrooy heading into Sunday’s clash with Wolves is that his side has suffered 74 shots, with 28 of them on target, in just three PL games he has been in charge of. The defeat means that the Foxes [LLWDL] are 17th and remain on 14 points [3W, 5D, 8L] after 16 matches, their lowest tally at this stage of a top-flight campaign since 2014-25 when they had just 10 points at the same stage. With just two points and a spot above the relegation zone, Sunday’s clash is a must-win for the hosts against a side that may enjoy the new manager bounce. The Foxes will look to draw inspiration from their past home performances against Wolves, having not lost any of six such games [4W, 2D, 0L], while conceding only one goal in the run. However, the Foxes have won just one of their last six games against sides in the bottom three [1W, 3D, 2L]. A 4—2—3—1 with Jamie Vardy in attack is expected for the weekend’s game.