Leicester City are aiming to take an important step towards Premier League survival on Friday evening when they host Brentford in the Premier League.

The Foxes have been in disastrous form since the arrival of Ruud van Nistelrooy and have now lost nine of their last ten league matches after last weekend’s 2-0 loss at home to Arsenal. Their King Power Stadium record has been particularly uninspiring, with five straight league defeats without scoring.

All hope is not lost, however, with victory on Friday lifting them out of the relegation zone heading into the weekend. Currently 19th in the standings, Leicester would climb above Ipswich Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers if they were to conquer Brentford.

Brentford have been characteristically inconsistent this season. They were reliant on their excellent home record during the first half of the campaign but have now started to improve on their travels with three successive victories. However, their increasingly unconvincing record in west London means they are stuck in 11th.

Here is 90min’s guide to the Premier League’s Friday night offering.

Leicester vs Brentford head-to-head record (last five games)

Current form (all competitions)

Leicester will be without James Justin on Friday after the right-back picked up an ankle injury in defeat to Arsenal last time out. With Ricardo Pereira still sidelined, January recruit Woyo Coulibaly is likely to come into the lineup for his first Premier League start.

Abdul Fatawu and Odsonne Edouard are also in the treatment room, with the latter, on loan from Crystal Palace, not featuring since November due to a mixture of injuries and poor form.

Stephy Mavididi may come into the starting lineup after impressing from the bench against the Gunners, and his dynamism in the final third could be what’s needed against Brentford.

Leicester predicted lineup vs Brentford (4-2-3-1): Hermansen; Coulibaly, Faes, Okoli, Kristiansen; Ndidi, Soumare; De Cordova-Reid, El Khannous, Mavididi; Vardy.

Brentford are unlikely to make many changes from the side that beat West Ham United last weekend, with Aaron Hickey, Rico Henry, Joshua Dasilva, Gustavo Nunes and Igor Thiago all still absent for the travelling Bees.

Centre-back Sepp van den Berg could be one change, however, with Brentford sweating on his fitness after he was withdrawn on the hour mark against the Irons.

Kevin Schade scored the only goal of the game against the Hammers and should start as part of a menacing front four that also contains Yoane Wissa, Bryan Mbeumo and underappreciated creator Mikkel Damsgaard. Only Mohamed Salah (15), Bukayo Saka (10) and Antonee Robinson (10) have supplied more assists than the Denmark international’s eight this term.

Brentford predicted lineup vs Leicester (4-2-3-1): Flekken; Ajer, Collins, Van den Berg, Lewis-Potter; Norgaard, Janelt; Mbeumo, Damsgaard, Schade; Wissa.

Leicester may not have scored in their last five Premier League home games but their bad fortune in front of goal is likely to end sooner rather than later. They have been guilty of spurning some promising moments at King Power and could end their drought against one of the division’s leakier defences.

However, having conceded two or more in 12 of their last 13 matches in all competitions, getting on the scoresheet is unlikely to be enough to secure some much-needed points on Friday night. Brentford boast a formidable attacking record – they have scored more than third-placed Nottingham Forest this term – and should overpower a struggling Leicester defence.

Prediction: Leicester 1-2 Brentford

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