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2022/23 English Premier League
Matchday 31
Manchester City v Leicester City
Etihad Stadium
Manchester, England
Saturday, 15 April 2023
Kick-off is at 18h30
Manchester City will attempt to keep the pressure on the
Premier League leaders when they welcome Leicester City to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, April 15.
The second-placed Citizens closed within six points of Arsenal with a resounding 4-1 victory over rock-bottom Southampton at St Mary's last Saturday to record their fifth win on the spin.
The Gunners dropped two points on matchday 30 after being held to a 2-2 draw by Liverpool at Anfield the following day , which halted a seven-game winning streak.
Newcastle (3rd) and Manchester United (4th) remain 11 points behind City in the final two UEFA Champions League positions, having beaten Brentford and Everton respectively last weekend.
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The Foxes' woes continued as a 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth extended their winless run to eight matches and left them two points adrift of safety in 19th spot.
Mike Stowell and Adam Sadler have suffered back-to-back losses since replacing the sacked Brendan Rodgers at the helm on an interim basis on April 2 and the East Midlands outfit are just two points clear of the Saints, with Nottingham Forest (18th) and Everton (17th) tied on 27 points.
Erling Haaland maintained his remarkable goalscoring form for Pep Guardiola's side with a brace against Southampton, which saw him reach the 30-goal mark in the league this season. The Norwegian striker has bagged 44 goals in all competitions to equal the record jointly held by Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mohamed Salah.
Harvey Barnes has been one of the few shining lights in a gloomy campaign for Leicester, with his goal against Aston Villa last week seeing him reach double figures in the Premier League for the first time in his career. The winger overtook James Maddison as the club's top scorer for the campaign and will be key to their survival prospects.
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In team news, Phil Foden (appendix) is the only absentee for the hosts, while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (suspension) joins James Justin (calf), Youri Tielemans (ankle), Ryan Bertrand (knee) and Jannik Vestergaard on the sidelines for the visitors.
Guardiola insists nothing makes him happier than experiencing the pressures of a title race and he hopes the winning mentality of his players will continue to spurs them on to achieve more silverware.
"In September, October, November I enjoy less. When we arrive in the last stages, fighting for the title, I'm the happiest man in the world. I love to be here," the Spaniard said.
"What's going to happen? I don't know. [If we're] going to win, everything is going to be perfect. If we lose, we will be a failure.
"Nothing is going to change. The day after, [there will be a] sunrise. We will try it again in the future. This is the mindset we will need to do. We have done it in the past, that's why I'm incredibly happy with the players I have, the club we are."
Sadler has urged the Foxes to put up a united front in a bid to avoid the drop, acknowledging that confidence levels are low due to their current predicament.
"It's fair to say you can see there's a lack of confidence in the group at this moment in time," he told LCFC TV. "It's my job just to continue to try and support these players and keep them united and keep them focused on the job at hand.
"We're in a fight. I think we have to acknowledge the fact that we're in a fight. We have eight games left and we've got to stick together. We've got to be up for that challenge."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Man City - 4
Leicester - 1
Draws - 0
Matchday 31 fixtures:
Saturday, April 15
13h30: Aston Villa v Newcastle United
16h00: Chelsea v Brighton & Hove Albion
16h00: Everton v Fulham
16h00: Southampton v Crystal Palace
16h00: Tottenham Hotspur v Bournemouth
16h00: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Brentford
18h30: Manchester City v Leicester City
Sunday, April 16
15h00: West Ham United v Arsenal
17h30: Nottingham Forest v Manchester United
Monday, April 17
21h00: Leeds United v Liverpool
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