Leicester City will play their second game under Ruud van Nistelrooy this coming Sunday.
Leicester City face off with Brighton and Hove Albion in a 2pm kick-off on December 8th.
Ahead of the tie, the odds looked to be stacked against the Foxes, who climbed four points clear of the relegation zone with a win over West Ham United in midweek.
Paul Merson issued his Leicester vs Brighton score prediction recently and made a second unwanted claim before the match.
Despite Merson’s verdict, Foxes fans are likely slightly more confident about facing the Seagulls than they would have been just a few weeks ago.
We have only seen 90 minutes from Ruud van Nistelrooy but it was still a major improvement from the drubbing at the hands of Brentford just a few days before.
Granted, the club’s backline remains a concern but further forward, Van Nistelrooy could be about to unleash a Leicester wildcard.
Leicester City's Patson Daka (centre) celebrates scoring his side's third goal with team mates Bobby De Cordova-Reid (left) and Stephy Mavididi dur...
Photo by Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images
Stephy Mavididi yet to start under Ruud van Nistelrooy for Leicester City
During Van Nistelrooy’s first game in charge, he lined his side up with a front four of Jamie Vardy, Bilal El Khannouss, Facundo Buonanotte and Kasey McAteer.
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The quartet worked well and scored three goals for just the second time in the Premier League this season – last doing so versus Bournemouth in early October.
However, Buonanotte is set to miss Sunday’s meeting at the King Power Stadium as he cannot play against his parent club.
In turn, Van Nistelrooy will be forced to make at least one change to his front line this weekend and we could see Stephy Mavididi handed his first start under the new Leicester manager.
Buonanotte also recently missed another game for the Foxes, sitting out the defeat to Chelsea due to suspension.
Ahead of that match, Leicester fans were furious Steve Cooper didn’t start Mavididi, who when he came off the bench, looked incredibly sharp and should have won a penalty if not for VAR.
Ruud van Nistelrooy must listen to Leicester fans about Stephy Mavididi
The 26-year-old has been in and out of the starting line-up this season and has not completed 90 minutes since the 4-2 defeat to Arsenal in September.
Fans were furious at Cooper after he subbed Mavididi against Everton earlier in the season, with the now ex-boss explaining his decision post-match.
He said: “I can understand the fans’ frustration. I get that and accept it. He was excellent second half and we felt like our likely chances were going to come from that side.
“But he’d run his race physically, absolutely run his race. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s normal for an attacking player to run out of steam. We just thought we would put fresh legs on and let Abdul (Fatawu) one or two moments. He got involved in winning a corner.”
It’s clear Leicester fans have a soft spot for Mavididi and with Buonanotte now out of action this weekend, it is the perfect time for Van Nistelrooy to hand the winger a chance to prove himself from the off.
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