The Lowdown: Steve Bruce's Newcastle United
The Premier League encounter will be both sides' first fixture of 2021, with City looking to build on Monday's 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace and United aiming to record another positive result after their goalless stalemate with Liverpool on Wednesday evening.
Ahead of the Foxes' trip to the north east, LCFC.com gives an in-depth overview of the Magpies, including their manager, playing squad and current form...
The team
Summer signing Callum Wilson leads the way by some distance in Newcastle's scoring charts with the striker netting eight league goals in 13 games so far this campaign, ahead of Jeff Hendrick (2), who arrived on a free transfer following a spell at Burnley, and is the only other player to have found the net more than once.
Former Bournemouth man Wilson - who joined alongside Scotland winger Ryan Fraser - also leads the way for assists, laying on three goals for his team-mates.
In the absence of Martin Dúbravka, Karl Darlow has kept three clean sheets in 2020/21, playing 15 times in the Premier League - more than any other Newcastle player. Another new recruit, full-back Jamal Lewis, signed for a reported £14M from Norwich City, is one of four outfield players to have made 14 appearances for the club in the top flight.
While Jetro Williams, Danny Rose, Nabil Bentaleb and Valentino Lazaro all returned to their parent cubs following loan spells, Newcastle sent the likes of Jake Turner, Freddie Woodman, Florian Lejeune and Yoshinori Muto out on loan, with Jack Colback (Nottingham Forest) and Dan Barlaser (Rotherham United) joining Championship clubs on permanent deals.
The manager
Following the departure of Rafael Benítez to Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang F.C., former Birmingham City, Hull City and Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce took the reins in the summer of 2019.
Bruce, a life-long Newcastle supporter, was an authoritative centre-back in his playing days, making over 300 appearances for Manchester United, winning three league titles.
Following managerial spells with Sheffield United, Huddersfield Town, Wigan Athletic and Crystal Palace, Bruce began to build a reputation as a promotion specialist at Birmingham City.
First winning the Championship Play-Offs in 2002, Bruce managed the Blues in the Premier League, before also securing another promotion as runners-up in the second tier in 2007.
The Corbridge-born manager left Birmingham later that year to return to Wigan Athletic, where he secured an 11th-placed finish in the Premier League.
In June 2009, meanwhile, Bruce moved again to Sunderland, where he was able to finish 13th and 10th before, in 2011, he left the Stadium of Light with his side sat 16th.
The spell at Hull City which followed was successful, guiding the Tigers to promotion and then the FA Cup Final, sealing a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying stage, while also securing their top-flight status.
Despite relegation the following season, Bruce remained at Hull to guide them back to the top tier via the play-offs, before leaving the east Yorkshire side before the new season got underway.
Bruce was back in work at Aston Villa in the Championship in October 2016 and spent exactly two years at the helm, guiding the Villa Park club to a play-off final, but departed following a poor run of form.
He also briefly worked at another second tier club, Sheffield Wednesday, from January 2019 to July 2019, before leaving the Owls to join Newcastle.
Bruce enjoyed some memorable results in his first season in charge, notably beating Manchester United at St. James' Park in October 2019, eventually finishing in 13th place on 44 points.
Form guide
Newcastle are currently on a run of five games without a win since beating West Bromwich Albion 2-1 on 12 December thanks to goals from Miguel Almirón and Dwight Gayle.
Defeats came away to Leeds United (5-2) and Manchester City (2-0), while United drew 1-1 at home to 10-man Fulham, before also picking up a point against Liverpool.
Bruce's outfit exited the Carabao Cup after a defeat by Championship side Brentford in December, losing 1-0 at the quarter-final stage.
Previous encounters
Leicester City enjoyed two victories over Sunday's opponents during the last campaign, and also won a second round Carabao Cup tie at St. James' Park 4-2 on penalties, after a 1-1 draw in normal time.
James Maddison scored the Foxes' goal that night and a month later, in September 2019, City produced an impressive performance to win 5-0 on Filbert Way. Ricardo Pereira, a brace from Jamie Vardy, Wilfred Ndidi and Paul Dummett's own goal helped Leicester to victory against the Magpies.
In the Premier League reverse fixture on New Year's Day 2020, City scored three without reply including a superb strike from Maddison, along with goals for Ayoze Pérez, against his former club, and Hamza Choudhury.
The trophy cabinet
While Newcastle United have endured a 64-year wait for a major honour in English football, their record before 1955 is an impressive list of titles and cup competition successes.
The Magpies are four-time champions of England, winning the top division in 1905, 1907, 1909 and 1927, while they have competed in 16 European campaigns.
Their most recent spell in Europe was a run to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League in 2013, while they also enjoyed campaigns in the UEFA Champions League in 1997/98 and 2002/03.
Newcastle have lifted the FA Cup on six occasions (1910, 1924, 1932, 1951, 1952 and 1955), but are yet to win the League Cup.
Their trophy cabinet also includes the FA Charity Shield (1909), the Sheriff of London Charity Shield (1907), the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (1969), the UEFA Intertoto Cup (2006), Texaco Cup (1974, 1975) and the Anglo-Italian Cup (1973).
The stadium
Newcastle United have called St. James' Park their home since its creation in 1892, but the 52,354-capacity venue is unrecognisable nowadays to its early form.
As a result of continuous development over that time, St. James' Park has a decidedly asymmetrical shape to it now, with two stands far larger than the others.
The stadium has become renowned for its ability to generate a vibrant and loud home atmosphere, especially during Kevin Keegan's first spell as manager between 1992 and 1997.
St. James' Park is currently the eighth-biggest in England, bettered only by Wembley Stadium, Old Trafford, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Emirates Stadium, Etihad Stadium, Anfield and London Stadium.
The club record attendance, on the other hand, was secured with a crowd of 68,386 people set in 1930 against Chelsea, when standing was still allowed on the terraces.
The fixtures
Following Sunday's game, Newcastle will visit Emirates Stadium for an FA Cup third round tie with Arsenal on Saturday 9 January (5:30pm kick-off).
Back to league matters three days later, they travel to face Sheffield United at Bramall Lane (6pm kick-off) before meeting Arsenal again on Monday 18 January (8pm kick-off).
Their January schedule ends with a home game against Leeds United on Tuesday 26 (8pm kick-off) and a trip to Goodison Park and Everton on Saturday 30 (12:30pm kick-off).
All times GMT.