Despite missing key players, Miles Harrison believes the East Midlands derby will be a cracking game.
Deputising players in the spotlight
Leicester will be looking to get back to winning ways after last weekend's defeat to London Irish. A losing bonus point would not have been acceptable for the Tigers and they know they have to pick up their game against the attacking Saints.
Despite not quite being at their best Northampton still had enough to see off the challenge of Sale, however they are well aware that they need a big improvement to take on their East Midlands rivals.
Both sides have been shorn of their internationals, however with Leicester's injury woes, Northampton know they will not have a better chance to get one over their old foes.
Miles Harrison will be commentating on the game and spoke to
skysports.com about the Welford Road clash.
Leicester face a side that loves to run with the ball and really attack space - similar to what they faced last week. Will they have learned anything from their London Irish loss?
MILES REPLIES: Last week was one of those matches when both sides rather cancelled each other out. Leicester were effective defensively but, having said that, they lost! However, a bonus point away to Irish in the grand scheme of things was not a bad result for the Tigers and Northampton will have to find a way to get through or around this Leicester defence at Welford Road - not easy. I suppose then in that sense it is Northampton who need to learn the lessons of last week's events in Reading and not Leicester.
Saints misfired a bit against Sale but were still able to grab the win?
MILES REPLIES: It was very important that they did. Franklin's Gardens has become a place where a home victory is expected. If that gets into the opposition's minds this season then it will be a great place for the Saints. The fact that Sale came back at them last weekend would have caused a few home flutters but Northampton won again and that's the most important bit.
International players will be missing from both clubs, on paper it looks like Leicester will suffer more from that - having more players missing - however Saints don't quite have the depth that the Tigers have do they?
MILES REPLIES: That's true although we mustn't forget that in Shane Geraghty and Courtney Lawes, Northampton are losing their two headline-makers of the season. They have been making those headlines for very good reasons too. Also, Ben Foden is a key figure in the way that Northampton have played in this campaign as you alluded to in the first question.
Of course, Dylan Hartley as skipper will also be a really big miss. But, as we all know, Leicester have had their plans this season decimated by injury and now with this raft of Tiger international call-ups, they are stretched to the limit, regardless of their squad size. Great credit should go to Richard Cockerill and his team for managing a very difficult situation. But, the bottom line to this one is that both sides can justifiably claim to be up against it this weekend.
Talking about the autumn internationals are there any players here who were unlucky not to get called up?
MILES REPLIES: Nick Kennedy and, one for the future, Joe Simpson, could have been included and nobody would have argued about it. Also, Paul Sackey will come back but, by his own admission, he is not at his best at the moment after a long lay-off.
Is it fair to say that Northampton's Premiership hopes rest on games like this? These are the games that they really need to get something from if they want to fulfil their ambitions?
MILES REPLIES: Yes, in that they need to be more than just competitive in matches like these, they need to win a fair few of them if they are going to make that big step. However, Leicester's title ambitions are far from over because they lost at Irish last week and, equally, Northampton will not be 'out of it' if they lose at Welford Road. But, clearly if they win, it will give the Saints a massive confidence boost and, let's face it, this is about as good a time to play Leicester in their backyard as you can remember with all these frontline players missing. It should be a fascinating contest despite the absentees and the fact that it is being played out in front of such a big crowd will put the deputising players even more in the spotlight.
Speak to you all from Welford Road on Saturday evening.
