Pundits have predicted another tough weekend for Leeds United as Jesse Marsch oversees his first game in charge against Leicester City.
The Whites’ last victory came in mid-January when they beat West Ham 3-2 thanks to Jack Harrison’s hat-trick.
In the six games since, they have picked up just one point and conceded a league-high 21 goals which has seen them slip further towards the relegation zone.
The Leeds hierarchy will be hoping that their decision to replace Marcelo Bielsa with Marsch will pay dividends as top-flight survival is clearly the main objective.
Saturday’s game at King Power Stadium would be the perfect place for the American to get his first win in English football to kick off his 12-game audition between now and the end of the season.
However, the pundits tasked with predicting each of the weekend’s Premier League results haven’t given the visitors much hope of coming away with a result.
Here is what a few of them have had to say.
Mark Lawrenson – BBC Sport
In his weekly predictions with BBC Sport, Mark Lawrenson expects Leicester to secure all three points.
He said: “Leicester's late win at Burnley will have lifted the whole squad for several reasons - it was their first league victory and clean sheet of 2022, plus Jamie Vardy was back fit for the first time this year and scored too.
“All of that means this is a tricky start for new Leeds boss Jesse Marsch. I'd expect a determined performance from his side and they might make themselves more difficult to beat, but I don't see it being a quick fix, especially while Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford remain injured.”
Lawro's prediction: Leicester City 2-0 Leeds United
Jones Knows – Sky Sports
Sky Sports’ chief tipster and predictions expert Jones Knows was of the same belief as Lawrenson that Leeds will struggle to make the necessary changes in less than a week as he forecasted the weekend’s action.
“Leeds United's chances of competing in this football match rest largely on which stage of grief they find themselves in after Marcelo Bielsa's departure,” he claimed. “The five stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The quicker the club can get to the final stage, the better.
“Jesse Marsch has the tricky task of filling Bielsa's boots and although he's promised a similar style to the former boss, we await evidence on that promise before making a judgement on how to approach Leeds from a prediction-betting perspective. "The balance is important but you have to have some patience, you have to be willing to take a beating sometimes," Marsch told my colleague Adam Bate in an interview in 2020 when talking about his approach to management. Read into that what you will about the potential for him to make an immediate impact.
“Meanwhile, Leicester's attack is purring, and I'm keen on giving them plenty of my backing in the second half of the season, including in this encounter. The Foxes have scored 45 goals in their last 20 games - over two goals per 90 minutes - across all competitions and that has included fixtures against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea.
“I think they'll hit that average here in a home win.”
Score prediction: Leicester City 3-1 Leeds United
Paul Merson – sportskeeda
Like the two aforementioned pundits, Merson also thinks Leicester will have too much quality in attack for Leeds with the timing of Vardy’s return.
This is a different game of football with Jesse Marsch taking over the reins at Elland Road,” he said in his predictions column with sportskeeda.
“A week or two ago, I’d have said Leicester City would win quite easily, but now, Leeds United have a chance. It’ll be interesting to see how the new manager conveys his ideas in a short span of time, because Leeds need points on the board immediately.
“With all due respect to Marcelo Bielsa, the managerial change had to be made as they were on a bit of a slippery slope in the Premier League.
“Jamie Vardy is back for Leicester City and that could well turn out to be a huge boost, so I’m backing the home side to win this one.”
Prediction: Leicester City 2-0 Leeds United
Vinnie Jones – EasyOdds
Vinnie Jones used his weekly EasyOdds column to pay tribute to the departed Bielsa before making his predictions for the Premier League.
After revealing that he is awaiting a call from Marsch to play in the heart of the defence, he predicted that his former side would share the points in a draw with Leicester on Saturday.
