Confirmed Leicester City lineup to face Everton, one change as Ruud van Nistelrooy ruthlessly axes key star

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Leicester City travel to Everton in the Premier League in a huge relegation six-pointer at the bottom of the table.

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men will be looking to build on their excellent performance last time out as Leicester clinched a 2-1 victory over Tottenham.

All three points against Spurs saw the Foxes climb out of the relegation zone, putting them six points behind Everton, who themselves secured a quality 1-0 win over Brighton.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
16	EvertonEverton	22	5	8	9	19	28	-9	23
17	LeicesterLeicester	23	4	5	14	25	49	-24	17

The stakes couldn’t be higher ahead of the clash at Goodison Park as two relegation-threatened sides go to battle on Saturday afternoon.

Having secured a brilliant win over Spurs last weekend, Van Nistelrooy wasn’t expected to make any changes to his Leicester starting lineup, although news emerged this week that saw that change.

• READ MORE: Leicester City may have just over 48 hours to stop Ruud van Nistelrooy walking out, he has history

Confirmed Leicester City lineup to face Everton

The big news to emerge from Van Nistelrooy’s press conference on Thursday was the return of influential goalkeeper Mads Hermansen, who has been sidelined since the defeat to Newcastle in December.

Hermansen was one of the Premier League’s best goalkeepers before his injury however, Jakub Stolarczyk has been excellent in his place.

Alan Shearer even named Stolarczyk in his Team of the Week last weekend, outlining his impressive performance against Tottenham.

However, when the team sheet was released at 2 pm, Van Nistelrooy decided to instantly start Hermansen – who they signed for £6m in 2023 – and brutally axe the Polish shot-stopper from the lineup.

This was the only change he made from the win over Spurs and that is hardly surprising as there were many heroes to emerge from that fixture, including Bobby De Cordova-Reid.

Confirmed Leicester XI vs Everton: Hermansen; Justin, Vestergaard, Faes, Kristiansen; Winks, Soumaré; De Cordova-Reid, El Khannouss, Ayew; Vardy

Leicester City’s recent record against Everton is strong

Everton have looked like a team transformed under David Moyes, who was previously linked with Leicester, with the Toffees securing wins over Tottenham and Brighton in the last two.

Moyes is threatening to turn Goodison into a fortress, too, seeing that as the key for them to survive relegation.

Taking that into account, Wayne Rooney and Roy Keane expect Everton to beat Leicester on Saturday, though such a prediction doesn’t align with previous meetings.

In their previous six matches against Everton, Leicester have avoided defeat on five occasions, although four of the games have ended in four draws.

A close encounter will be anticipated on Merseyside and Van Nistelrooy can send a statement to his Premier League relegations by winning.