Newly crowned Club Word Cup champions Liverpool return to Premier League action in a top of the table clash when they travel to Leicester on Boxing Day.
The Reds beat Flamengo courtesy of a Roberto Firmino goal to win the tournament on Saturday and will now focus their attention back on capturing their first Premier League trophy.
Jürgen Klopp's side currently sit top of the Premier League, ten points above Leicester in second who failed to gain ground on the leaders as they fell to a 3-1 defeat at Manchester City last time out.
Should Liverpool win, they would open up a gap of 13 points on the Foxes, and with a game in hand over both Brendan Rodgers' side and Manchester City in third, it would be hard to see anyone catching them.
But there is no doubt that former Reds boss Rodgers would love to get one over his old team and end Liverpool's unbeaten league run at the King Power on Thursday evening.
Where to Watch
| When Is Kick Off? | Thursday 26 December |
| What Time Is Kick Off? | 20.00 (GMT) |
| Where Is it Played? | King Power Stadium |
| TV Channel/Live Stream? | Amazon Prime |
| Referee? | Michael Oliver |
Team News
Leicester will have to wait on the fitness of Harvey Barnes ahead of this crucial clash after the winger was forced off in the defeat to Manchester City.
The 22-year-old suffered a heavy blow following a collision with City keeper Ederson and will be assessed ahead of the game.
Aside from Barnes and long-term casualty Matty James, Rodgers has a fully fit squad to choose from for the visit of the league leaders.
As for Liverpool, midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain looks set for yet another spell on the treatment table after limping off during the win against Flamengo.
The extent of the injury is unknown and the 26-year-old will undergo further examinations later this week but he will definitely miss the Boxing Day encounter.
Klopp has defensive woes, with Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren sidelined, the Reds boss only has two fit centre-halves in his squad. Though the fact that Ballon d'Or runner-up Virgil van Dijk is one of them will no doubt ease the German's concerns.
The visitors will also be without defensive midfielder Fabinho who continues his recovery from an ankle ligament injury he picked up in the 1-1 draw with Napoli in November.
Predicted Lineups
| Leicester City | Schmeichel; Pereira, Evans, Söyüncü, Chilwell; Ndidi, Tielemans, Maddison; Perez, Albrighton, Vardy. |
| Liverpool | Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Keïta, Wijnaldum; Salah, Mané, Firmino. |
Stats Centre
The headline match of the Boxing Day fixture list sees the Premier League's top two sides clash at the King Power Stadium, though Liverpool hold a ten point lead over Leicester, whose 11-match unbeaten streak in all competitions was ended by Manchester City on Saturday.
Leicester and Liverpool faced off on Boxing Day in the Foxes' title winning campaign in 2015/16 – the Reds won 1-0 at Anfield, inflicting one of just three league defeats on Leicester that season. Liverpool have won their last two Premier League away games against Leicester.
Head to Head Record
Liverpool boast a healthy record against the Foxes in recent times, with Leicester's last victory against the Merseysiders coming in a 2-0 home league cup win in 2017.
Apart from that, the men from Anfield have dominated the fixture in the past couple of seasons, including earlier on this campaign when they ran out 2-1 victors at home.
The Foxes were unlucky to leave with nothing on that occasion as James Maddison appeared to have snatched a point, cancelling out Sadio Mané's opener. But James Milner stepped up in the fifth minute of added time to score a dramatic late winner from the penalty spot.
Recent Form
The Foxes have been rampant. In fact, Leicester's last game against champions City was their first loss since that dramatic Anfield defeat at the beginning of October.
It was an unbeaten run of nine which saw them win eight straight league games, including a 9-0 demolition of Southampton at St Mary's.
Jamie Vardy has been in the same scintillating form that he enjoyed during Leicester's title-winning season three years ago and has already hit 17 league goals this term.
We have reached Christmas and Liverpool are still without a loss in the league. They are 17 unbeaten and counting, having only dropped two points all season. They tie top spot with Leicester in regard to conceding, with both only letting in 14 goals in the Premier League, but the Reds' attack isn't bad either.
The trio of Mohamed Salah, Firmino and Mané have contributed to 42 league goals, only bettered by Manchester City.
Here's how the two teams have fared in their last five games in all competitions.
| Leicester | Liverpool |
| Manchester City 3-1 Leicester (21/12) | Liverpool 1-0 Flamengo (21/12) |
| Everton 2-2 Leicester (2-4 on Pens) (18/12) | Monterrey 1-2 Liverpool (18/12) |
| Leicester 1-1 Norwich City (14/12) | Aston Villa 5-0 Liverpool (17/12) |
| Aston Villa 1-4 Leicester (8/12) | Liverpool 2-0 Watford (14/12) |
| Leicester 2-0 Watford (4/12) | RB Salzburg 0-2 Liverpool (10/12) |
Prediction
Two top teams go head to head in a game that promises goals and plenty of attacking football. Both sides love to counter so we could be in for a game played at a frantic pace.
Leicester have to win, in order to preserve any belief that they can catch their opponents in the race for the league title and Manchester City will be praying they also get one over on Klopp's men.
A close one to call. It will be a very tight encounter with little to split the teams, and Leicester may have enough to stop Liverpool winning.
Prediction: Leicester 2-2 Liverpool
Source : 90min