Preview: Leicester vs. Racing 92

11:10 AM GMT

Leicester vs. Racing 92

The City Ground, Nottingham.

Sunday, 15.15 BST

Sunday's semifinal will see Leicester Tigers and Racing face off in European competition for the first time in their history. With both sides sitting fourth in the Aviva Premiership and Top 14 respectively, this should be a real humdinger of a tie: Racing have conceded the least tries in the competition while Leicester have scored the most. And with them possessing the competition's top two leading scorers -- Dan Carter and Freddie Burns --Nottingham could be in for a classic.

Team news

Opeti Fonua is given the nod at No.8 for the Tigers while Lachlan McCaffrey and Mike Fitzgerald are named in the back-row. Mathew Tait captains the team from fullback with Manu Tuilagi joining Peter Betham in the centres. Racing 92 have Dan Carter at fly-half with Maxime Machenaud captaining the team at No.9. Johan Goosen will offer a kicking option from No.13 with Luke Charteris and Francois van der Merwe packing down in the second-row.

Key head-to-head

Former All Black Dan Carter has been mercurial since joining Racing after the Rugby World Cup. Richard Cockerill and his Tigers coaching staff have been busy making plans to keep the reigning World Player of the Year quiet. Carter is currently the competition's top scorer, although Tigers counterpart Freddie Burns is only five points behind him. Don't be surprised if this tie is settled with the boot.

Key stats

*Leicester are the only side in this season's Champions Cup to achieve a success rate of 90% or better at both the scrum (91%) and the lineout (92%).

*Dan Carter has missed just one of 20 shots at goal in the Champions Cup this season, giving him the best success rate (95%) of any of the 24 players to attempt 10+ place kicks.

*Racing have conceded the fewest tries (7) of any team in the competition this season. Leicester, meanwhile, have scored the most (30).

Form guide

Leicester - WLWWW

Racing 92 - LLWWL

Odds

Racing have been given odds-on status to win the match, with bet365 pricing them at 8/13 to qualify for the final. Carter and Co are 4/6 to win the tie in the normal 80 minutes, while you can get 6/5 on a Tigers victory after 80 minutes. Cockerill's side are also priced 6/5 to reach the final.

Prediction

Leicester were rampant last time out in the competition as they put five tries past a hapless Stade Francais in their quarterfinal clash at Welford Road. Racing, though, are battle-hardened: their testing 19-16 last eight win over Toulon will stand them in good stead. Will home-ish advantage be enough to see Leicester over the line? Only if they can subdue Carter. Racing to win by 1-5 points.

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Preview: Leicester vs. Racing 92