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The international break is over and club football is back!

The Premier League returns this weekend and one of the standout fixtures sees third place Leicester host runaway leaders Manchester City.

After a rocky few weeks threatened to derail the Foxes’ bid to secure Champions League football, Brendan Rodgers’ side picked up two impressive league wins prior to the international break as well as booking their place in the semi-final of the FA Cup with a 3-1 win over Manchester United.

Meanwhile, the City juggernaut continues to steamroll its way through any opposition who dare come before them. Any hopes that their defeat to city rivals United might see the wheels falls off a little were soon banished as Pep Guardiola’s side won all of their next four outings, conceding just two goals in the process.

Here’s 90min’s preview of what promises to be a mouth-watering encounter…

When is the match? Saturday 3 April
What time is kick off? 17:30 GMT
Where is it being played? King Power Stadium
TV Channel: Sky Sports Main Event (UK), fuboTV (US)
Referee: Paul Tierney
VAR: Timothy Wood

Rodgers will have been keeping a keen eye on the members of his squad involved in international duty over the past couple of weeks, with Dennis Praet potentially putting himself in contention for a start with a fine display for Belgium against Belarus.

The Foxes will be without James Justin and Harvey Barnes for the visit of the champions elect, while James Maddison, Ricardo Pereira, Cengiz Under and Wes Morgan are all expected to undergo late fitness tests.

Despite the recent announcement that Sergio Aguero would be leaving the club at the end of the season, it’s tough to see Guardiola affording the frontman a farewell tour over the next few months given his lack of regular football this season.

The Catalan tactician has a fully-fit squad at his disposal for the trip the the King Power Stadium on Saturday, and he too will likely make one or two decisions based on how much international football his players were involved in recently.

Leicester: Schmeichel; Evans, Soyuncu, Fofana; Albrighton, Ndidi, Tielemans, Praet, Castagne; Iheanacho, Vardy.

Man City: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Cancelo; Rodri, Gundogan, De Bruyne; Mahrez, Jesus, Sterling.

Leicester

Leicester 3-1 Manchester United – 21/03/2021
Leicester 5-0 Sheffield United – 14/03/2021
Brighton 1-2 Leicester – 06/03/2021
Burnley 1-1 Leicester – 03/03/2021
Leicester 1-3 Arsenal – 28/02/2021

Manchester City

Everton 0-2 Manchester City – 20/03/2021
Manchester City 2-0 Borussia Monchengladbach – 16/03/2021
Fulham 0-3 Manchester City – 13/03/201
Manchester City 5-2 Southampton – 10/03/2021
Manchester City 0-2 Manchester United – 07/03/2021

When these two sides met earlier in the season Guardiola’s side were absolutely blown away by the Foxes, with a Jamie Vardy hat-trick helping Leicester secure a convincing 5-2 with at the Etihad Stadium.

However, the City of the opening few months of the season were a far different proposition to the side we’ve been treated to over the past few months. Guardiola’s men have one hand on the Premier League trophy, though their defeat to United in early March proves they’re not invincible.

Both these teams love to attack, and with the Foxes frontline looking razor sharp of late, we should be in for an absolute cracker.

Prediction: Leicester 2-2 Manchester City

There’s been a lot of talk lately surrounding England’s wealth of options at right-back.

While Kyle Walker, Reece James and Kieran Trippier were named in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the March internationals, the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Aaron Wan-Bissaka will be expecting to be in the picture when the Three Lions boss names his squad for the European Championship this summer.

Meanwhile, with Matty Cash, Tariq Lamptey, Max Aarons and James Justin all viable options for Southgate moving forward, it’s fair to say he’s in for his fair share of selection headaches.

However, with so much talk about who will be given the nod at right-back, there’s been little mention of England’s left-back dilemma.

Ben Chilwell was afforded a start in England’s first 2022 World Cup qualifier against San Marino, and while people will be quick to point out the strength of the opposition (or lack of) as England easily dispatched of international football’s whipping boys, there was a clear emphasis on England attacking from the left-hand side – something the Chelsea man facilitated brilliantly.

Manchester United’s Luke Shaw was given his chance against Albania, and he too produced an impressive display as England made it two wins from two.

Southgate opted to shuffle his pack yet again at home to Poland on Wednesday night, with Chilwell restored to the starting XI, and he again did his bid to be his county’s first-choice right-back no harm at all.

The Three Lions again looked to attack predominantly from the left, with Chilwell using his pace and energy to stretch the Poland backline and open up the game.

The visitors simply couldn’t cope with the Chelsea man’s runs and were it not for a wayward Phil Foden header Chilwell would have notched himself an assist in the opening eight minutes of the game.

Of course, as England come up against stiffer opposition in their bid to be crowned European champions this summer, Chilwell will be required to do so much more than just be able to provide an attacking outlet on the left-hand side and surge forward all game.

Despite his lofty £50m move to Chelsea in the summer, the former Leicester man has been accused of being shaky defensively at times throughout his career. However, his display against Poland did little to suggest Southgate had any worries with the defensive side of the Chelsea man’s game.

The next time Southgate comes to pick a Three Lions squad, he’ll be selecting the players looking to end England’s years of major tournament hurt at Euro 2020. Both Chilwell and Shaw will undoubtedly be named in said squad, but as for who gets the nod in the starting XI – it really is anyone’s guess.

Shaw is enjoying his finest season since joining United in 2014, and while Chilwell may have struggled to adapt to life at Chelsea since his move to Stamford Bridge last summer, he’s shown the character and the quality to be able to firmly cement his place in Thomas Tuchel’s plans going forward.

One thing’s for sure though, Southgate has a huge selection headache ahead of him, and it’s not just the right-back spot he needs to be thinking about.