UCL Odds: Will Coaching Change Propel Leicester vs Sevilla?
Leicester City (+300) vs Sevilla (+105), Draw (+265)
All eyes will be on the Leicester City sideline when the Foxes face Sevilla in the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 matchup on Tuesday, March 14, at King Power stadium.
Sevilla won their home game 2-1 this week, but Leicester are still in with a shot after pinching a late away goal. That’s disappointing for the Spanish side since they had many chances to put the Foxes away in the first leg.
An early penalty gave Sevilla the chance to open the scoring, but a weak shot by Joaquín Correa was easily blocked by Kasper Schmeichel. Sevilla only had to wait a couple more minutes before taking the lead. A perfect cross by Sergio Escudero allowed Pablo Sarabia to make it 1-0.
Later in the second half, Correa made up for his missed penalty and made it 2-0. Jamie Vardy snatched a crucial away goal in the 72nd minute to give the Foxes life heading back to England.
In reality, Sevilla dominated the game, and if it weren’t for Schmeichel, Leicester could have lost by four or five. The subpar performance was one of the final straws for manager Claudio Ranieri, who was fired on Friday.
Some may question the wisdom of sacking a coach midseason when his squad is still very much alive in the Champions League. But Leicester’s UCL run stands in stark contrast to their performance in the Premier League. In the span of three seasons, Ranieri’s squad have gone from a relegation-threatened side to league title winners and all the way back down to the relegation zone. They are currently on a five-game losing streak and stand just three points from the bottom of the table.
Now, in a cruel twist of fate, the man responsible for leading the tiny club to the Champions League (and an EPL title) will have to watch his former team go for glory from afar.
Maybe the change will benefit the Foxes coming into the second leg. Or maybe it will throw the team into disarray. There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding Leicester at the moment and, on top of the Champions League game, they have to deal with the threat of relegation. This is all good news for Sevilla.
Pick: Sevilla (+105)
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.
