EPL Odds: Foxes, Hull in Relegation Struggle
Leicester City (-111) vs. Hull City (+410), Draw (+275)
Leicester City (6-6-14, 24 points) and Hull City (5-6-15, 21 points) take to King Power Stadium Saturday, March 4th in a battle between two clubs facing the threat of relegation.
When Leicester City fired Claudio Ranieri, it was impossible not to feel for the Italian manager. Here’s a man who took a relegation-threatened club on a fairy-tale ride to the very top of the league. For 38 games, the Foxes repeatedly defied the odds until they finally achieve the impossible – winning their first ever Premier League title.
But when Leicester City reverted to being a relegation-threatened club this season, management sacked Ranieri before even finding a replacement. Outrage spread across the footballing world, and well-known managers spoke out in defense of Ranieri.
Bur perhaps they spoke too soon. As if they had been intentionally playing like garbage, Leicester immediately broke out of their season-long slump and annihilated Liverpool 3-1. After 25 weeks of atrocious football, Leicester immediately became the team we remember so fondly from 2015-16. Jamie Vardy was back to his old self, exploiting Liverpool’s high back line and slipping through the ranks on multiple occasions, netting two goals.
The win marked Leicester’s first win of 2017 and ended their five-game losing streak. We may never know what exactly led to Ranieri’s dismissal and the internal politics remains a mystery to those of us on the outside. But here’s what we do know: Leicester is back.
To Hull’s credit, they’ve also recently managed to beat Liverpool. The Tigers trounced the Reds 2-0 earlier last month, so maybe beating them isn’t that big of a deal. But Hull have been terrible all season, and unlike Leicester, they’ve not shown that they are capable of being better.
If the Foxes are able to give even half the performance they gave against Liverpool, Hull will be absolutely no match for them. The sacking of Ranieri, while tragic, may have been a necessary decision for Leicester. If this is a sign that the old Leicester is back, then watch out.
Pick: Leicester City (-111)
Don Aguero is a man of many talents, writing about nearly anything you can put odds to. Don has been writing for SportsBettingDime since 2015, covering sports, entertainment and politics. You name it, he's covered it! He is also a steadfast West Ham fan, and has learned to embrace that suffering.
