Leicester City-Brentford Preview

Brentford boss Thomas Frank was delighted to see Ivan Toney's excellent form rewarded with a call-up to Gareth Southgate's England squad, as the striker looks to continue his strong run against Leicester City.

Toney has hit 16 Premier League goals this season to help Brentford into contention for a European spot - the Bees currently sit eighth in the table and one point adrift of the top six.

Only Erling Haaland and Harry Kane have outscored Toney in the English top flight this campaign, and the Brentford man will now look to provide competition for the latter of those players when he meets up with the Three Lions.

"We are very proud and pleased and happy, especially on behalf of Ivan," Frank said.

"I think he truly deserves it. I said to him, in front of all the players this morning, how pleased we are as a club, how happy we are on his behalf, and how well-deserved it is.

"With a lot of things going on, his ability to focus on what is the most important thing - what happens out there on the grass - deserves huge and well-deserved praise.

"If you look at the goals and assists combined, he's third on that list in the Premier League, which is remarkable, with 20 goal involvements."

Saturday's opponents Leicester are only outside the Premier League's bottom three via goal difference, having slumped to a fourth successive defeat against Chelsea last week.

That run has put boss Brendan Rodgers under pressure, but striker Patson Daka insists the Foxes travel to west London with confidence.

"If you look at the previous three games we've played, we've created so many chances, but it's just getting the ball in the back of the net that has been missing," he said.

"We all know that we've got the quality and will be able to make the best of the chances that we create in the next game."

Brentford - Mathias Jensen

Only Toney (eight) has scored more home goals for Brentford in the Premier League this season than Mathias Jensen (four), with the Dane netting three in his last four on home soil. Given Leicester's terrible defensive record, the midfielder may be eyeing another strike at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Leicester City - James Maddison

Maddison has more goals (nine) and assists (five) than any other Leicester player in the Premier League this season, but he has gone three games without a goal involvement for the first time since April 2022. If Leicester are to claw their way out of danger, they need the attacking midfielder - perhaps the finest player in the Premier League's bottom half - in top form.

Leicester are unbeaten in their last seven league games against Brentford (W5 D2) since a 3-2 loss in the second tier in March 1953.

However, the Foxes have suffered 16 Premier League defeats this season, which is Rodgers' worst return in a single campaign across his entire managerial career.

Brentford have lost just one of their 13 Premier League home games this season (W7 D5) and are unbeaten in nine since losing 3-0 to Arsenal in September (W5 D4). Coming into this weekend's fixtures, only Manchester United (12) are on a longer current run without defeat at home.

Brentford 40.2 per cent

Leicester City32.1 per cent

Draw27.7 per cent

Updated March 17, 2023