- Leicester U21 have won 1, drawn 1 and lost 3 of their last 5 Premier League 2 matches.
- Newcastle U21 have won 2 and drawn 2 of their last 5 in the same competition.
- Leicester U21 are unbeaten in their last 3 Premier League 2 head-to-heads with Newcastle U21 (won 1, drawn 2).
Magpies can make a mark on Monday
Newcastle United Academy are languishing in 22nd place in the Premier League 2, with only 16 points from their first 15 fixtures of the 2025-2026 campaign.
The young Magpies are looking over their shoulders and need a good result in the latest edition of this fixture that can serve as a key developmental marker for both sides.
Leicester City Academy are enjoying a mid-table season in 11th with 24 points from 16 fixtures, but they have lost two of their last three at home.
In fact, Leicester City Academy have won four, drawn one and lost three of their eight home Premier League 2 fixtures, losing 1-4 to Manchester United Academy in one of the defeats.
O’Carroll’s Magpies could be too hot
The Foxes will still come into this game as slight favourites at 97/100 with the visitors coming in at 197/100, which seems about right.
But Diarmuid O’Carroll’s Newcastle United U21 side can come at them all game long and should be too energetic to succumb to defeat.
O’Carroll has impressed with his structured yet fluid tactics since taking over at the beginning of September 2024, making his players far quicker to press the ball and create wide overloads.
The Magpies, who typically line-up in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, have hit their stride of late, dominating Fulham Academy 3-0 last time out and battling to a 2-2 draw with the in-form Brighton & Hove Albion Academy the previous week.
Kirsten the danger man
Their wide players and overlapping full-backs do a great job of creating chances from out wide while attackers such as Matheos Ferreira have the pace to recover if they get caught out at the back.
Ferreira leads the line for the Magpies with three goals in his last five appearances, but Leicester’s Kirsten Otchere is the danger man on Monday night with three in five.
Leicester U21 are a flexible 4-1-4-1 with Golding and Briggs usually the attacking midfielders who make it a 4-4-1-1 when they come to press, which they do a lot of.
Leicester's side tend to play a quick vertical game and their midfield will need to hold off Newcastle on Monday while the full-backs battle it out on the flanks.
Take an away win or draw
The odds-on price for both teams to score is an obscene 9/25, so there is little value in this fixture, but it should feature plenty of attacking football from both sides.
We’re taking the away side to get something out of this one because they can certainly make it a much closer contest than the odds suggest and Leicester haven’t won either of their previous two Premier League 2 home clashes with Newcastle U21 at the LCFC training ground, in their last two home meetings.
Newcastle U21 have won two, drawn three and lost two of their seven away fixtures in Premier League 2, letting in only nine goals, which is pretty good for a team at the bottom of the table.
