Leicester City v Everton preview: Jamie Vardy suspended for Premier League champions

Jamie Vardy starts his three-match ban in Leicester's Boxing Day home game with Everton after the Foxes failed to get his red card overturned.

The England international was sent off for a tackle on Stoke forward Mame Biram Diouf last weekend and the FA rejected the reigning Premier League champions' appeal.

Leicester fought back from two goals down with 10 men snatch 2-2 draw with the Potters and they will need to show similar resilience without their main striker as they go in pursuit of their first Boxing Day win in the top-flight since 1998.

Everton head to the King Power Stadium looking to atone for last season's two defeats to the Foxes, while also looking to arrest a run of four consecutive away defeats.

The Toffees, who haven't lost five in a row on the road since January 2015, have the added task of picking themselves up from their last-gasp Merseyside derby defeat to Liverpool on Monday night.

Team news

Robert Huth and Christian Fuchs are suspended for the champions as they collected their fifth bookings of the season against Stoke.

Danny Drinkwater could make his comeback after returning to training following a knee injury which has kept him out since he completed a three-game ban.

Everton midfielder James McCarthy will miss the trip to the King Power Stadium with a hamstring problem which is likely to sideline him for at least a couple of weeks.

Goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg has a dead leg which forced him off in the Merseyside derby and will not be considered unless he can train on Sunday.

Captain Phil Jagielka is available again after suspension.

Opta stats

Leicester did the double over Everton last season on their way to the title, the first time they had done that since 1985/86.

However, these are Everton's only defeats to Leicester in 13 league games (W2 D9).

The Foxes haven't won a Premier League Boxing Day match since beating Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 in 1998 (D1 L5).

Everton are unbeaten in their last four Premier League away games on Boxing Day, scoring exactly one goal in each match (W2 D2 L0).

Leicester City have won just 17 points from their 17 games this season - that's less than half the tally they had at this stage in their title-winning 2015/16 campaign (38 points).

The Foxes have conceded a goal in each of their last 10 Premier League games - only bottom of the league side Hull are on a longer run without a clean sheet in the competition (15 games without one).

Romelu Lukaku has scored six of Everton's nine Premier League away goals this season (67 per cent) and has also attempted 42 per cent of their shots on target on the road (14/33).

Everton have lost just two of their last 13 Premier League games against a reigning champion (W6 D5 L2).

Merson's predictions

This is another big game for both teams. Leicester still find themselves in a relegation battle, with their inconsistencies costing them in recent weeks. I look at Everton and think they should be doing better than what they are, they've got the players to be doing a lot better. Jamie Vardy gave Ashley Williams the run around last season but with the FA upholding his suspension, I just can't see Leicester winning. Everton need to turn the corner and I see them doing so.

PAUL PREDICTS: 1-2 (Sky Bet odds 9/1)

Betting

Leicester are 7/5 for victory over Everton, who can be backed at 19/10 to bounce back from their Merseyside Derby disappointment with three points at the King Power Stadium. It's 12/5 to end in a draw. Leicester are 5/2 to win 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1. With Jamie Vardy suspended, Islam Slimani is 5/1 to open the scoring with Shinji Okazaki 11/2. It's a rare case, though, of the favourite in this market coming from the outsiders, with Romelu Lukaku 9/2 to score first.