Leicester City welcome the visit of travelling Bournemouth on the final day of the Premier League season as Craig Shakespeare's side aim to secure a top-half finish after a rather difficult season for the former champions.
As for the Cherries, the seaside club could be on course for an eighth-place finish in only their second term in the top flight.
Leicester City
© SilverHub
The Foxes play their final home game this campaign having endured a difficult season defending their memorable title. Claudio Ranieri's sacking proved a watershed moment in ensuring that Leicester were able to stave off relegation and much credit should go to interim boss Shakespeare.
The coach won his first five league matches in charge of Leicester in order to allay fears of relegation, although the Foxes have struggled of late with the side winning just two of their last seven games in the league.
Leicester have lost a problematic 18 league games this season and have produced just 47 Premier League goals, potentially making the Foxes the last defending champions to score less than 50 since Liverpool in 1923-24.
Shakespeare may want to take on the job full-time should he be offered the chance next season, and this contest could provide him with a chance to end the campaign on a positive note after losing so heavily at Tottenham Hotspur in midweek.
Should the Foxes wish to beat Bournemouth, statistics suggest that Leicester best not fall behind on Sunday given that City have won just one of the 22 league games in which they have conceded the first goal this term.
Recent form: LLWWLD
Bournemouth
© SilverHub
A win could see the Cherries finish as high as eighth in the standings should other results go their way, and three points at the King Power would bring an end to a successful season for Eddie Howe's men.
At points Howe's charges had looked in trouble, but the emerging talent of Joshua King in attack ensured that Bournemouth were able to bat away whispers of a potential relegation dogfight.
Norwegian frontman King has notched 16 Premier League goals and now stands as the second-top goalscorer in the league from Norway after Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Much of Howe's managerial talent has been lauded in recent years and figures show that the coach has handed 20 or more league appearances to 11 English players during the 2016-17 season, something that has not happened since 2000-01 at Aston Villa.
Bournemouth are already three points better off than their final tally last season and a victory away at Leicester would surely cap off a solid showing in only their second season in the Premier League.
Recent form: WDWWLL
Team News
© SilverHub
The Foxes could welcome back Andy King from injury, but centre-back Robert Huth remains out with a knock to the foot.
Shakespeare has other injury concerns too and Danny Drinkwater, Wes Morgan and Nampalys Mendy are all likely to miss the visit of the Cherries.
Dan Gosling and Andrew Surman have been missing in recent weeks for Bournemouth, although the midfielders could play some part on the final day of the season.
Howe looks likely to be without injured frontman Benik Afobe, while youngster Lewis Cook is also away on international duty.
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Simpson, Benalouane, Fuchs, Chilwell, Mahrez, Amartey, Ndidi, Albrighton, Okazaki, Vardy
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Boruc; Smith, Francis, S. Cook, Daniels, Stanislas, Arter, Cook, Pugh, King, Mousset
Head To Head
The Foxes have been unable to beat Bournemouth in their last three Premier League meetings following two draws and a victory in favour of the Cherries.
Across those three meetings, City have only been able to muster one goal and that came in a 1-1 draw in 2015.
That said, in the three previous meetings between the clubs outside of the Premier League, Leicester have won four on the bounce against Bournemouth.
We say: Leicester City 1-1 Bournemouth
Both sides are still fighting for the chance to finish in the top half of the table come the end of Sunday. That sort of finish would be delightful for Bournemouth in their second season in the league, while Leicester will likely be satisfied just to have avoided the drop and will most probably look back on their memorable Champions League fortunes with more reverie than what went on in the league. Goals have been hard to come by in recent meetings and this could quite easily end in a hard-fought draw.
Christopher Dodd
