Leicester back to full strength as Vardy and co return for Newcastle clash

With Burnley v Fulham postponed yesterday, the first Premier League fixture of the day sees Newcastle United entertain Leicester City at St James’ Park.

Kick-off on Tyneside is at 14:15 GMT.

After handing breathers to many of his first-team regulars in the 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace last Monday, Brendan Rodgers reverts to a full-strength side this afternoon.

There are seven changes in all, with Kasper Schmeichel (£5.5m), James Justin (£5.0m), Jonny Evans (£5.5m) and Harvey Barnes (£6.8m) the only players to keep their places.

Among the returnees are James Maddison (£7.1m) and Wesley Fofana (£5.0m), who have recovered from minor knee injuries, and Jamie Vardy (£10.2m), the most-owned player on show in today’s game.

Timothy Castagne (£5.7m), Youri Tielemans (£6.4m), Marc Albrighton (£5.3m) and Wilfred Ndidi (£4.8m) are also recalled.

Rodgers’ opposite number, Steve Bruce, has made two changes for the Foxes’ visit.

One of them is enforced as Sean Longstaff (£4.7m) comes into midfield in place of Isaac Hayden (£4.7m), who serves a one-match ban after collecting five yellow cards.

Miguel Almiron (£5.6m) replaces Jacob Murphy (£4.9m) on the wing in the Magpies’ other alteration from their goalless draw with Liverpool.

Fantasy interest in the hosts mainly centres around Callum Wilson (£6.5m), who is the only Newcastle player owned by more than 3% of managers.

Along with Wilson and Vardy, Leicester full-back Justin is the only other player on show with a double-digit ownership.

The versatile youngster is now FPL’s most-owned defender, sitting in just over 25% of squads.

Rodgers’ troops have generally been better on the road this season, with 19 of their 29 points arriving in away fixtures.

Four of Vardy’s five double-digit hauls, indeed, have come outside of Leicester.

Newcastle United XI: Darlow, Yedlin, Fernandez, Schar, Clark, Ritchie, S Longstaff, M Longstaff, Almiron, Joelinton, Wilson.

Leicester City XI: Schmeichel, Justin, Fofana, Evans, Castagne, Ndidi, Tielemans, Albrighton, Maddison, Barnes, Vardy.

GET IN-GAME DATA AT LIVE FPL

Check your own rank and in-play FPL stats on LiveFPL.net every Gameweek