Liverpool host Leicester City at Anfield in the EFL Cup quarter-finals round on Wednesday evening. Both teams will welcome this fixture as a change and to rest key players during this busy Christmas schedule. Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers will return to Anfield to face his former side.
Liverpool vs Leicester City EFL Cup Preview:
Liverpool
The Reds will be taking a breath after a busy schedule lately, 4 games played in a span of 10 days only. Liverpool’s 7 matches winning run finally halted at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last Saturday when the host managed to hold off visitors in a 2-2 controversial draw. The VAR played a big role in that match, where Andrew Robertson was sent off in the second half after his clumsy challenge on Emerson. The referee initially handed the yellow card but changed it to red after reviewing it on the monitor screen. Liverpool fans were fuming after the match as Harry Kane escaped the worse foul in the first half.
Liverpool are now 3 points behind the league leaders of Manchester City in the English Premier League table. Title challenge will be their primary target this season so manager Jurgen Klopp will not shy from making wholesome changes on Wednesday. Liverpool are also competing in the UEFA Champions League, where they finished the group stage as toppers with 6 wins. They are drawn against Italian champions Inter Milan in the Round of 16, which will take place in the third week of February.
Merseyside giants beat Preston away by 0-2 in the round of 16 of the EFL Cup. Japanese forward Minamino Takumi and striker Divock Origi were on strike to guide them to the quarter-finals. Both are expected to feature again on Wednesday with key players getting rest for their next Premier League fixture, against Leeds United on Boxing Day. Liverpool are the most successful team in this competition but haven’t lifted the trophy since 2011-12.
Leicester City
The Foxes ended their three-match winless run in their last match. They managed to beat Newcastle United at home by a 4-0 with a dominating display. After that, their fixtures against Everton and Tottenham Hotspur were cancelled due to the current outbreak of the Covid-19 in the English Premier League clubs. Leicester City were also knocked out of the Europa League campaign after a 3-2 defeat against Napoli in their last fixture of group stages two weeks ago.
In the English Premier League, they sit in 9th position with 22 points from the opening 16 league matches. They are 10 points behind 4th placed Arsenal but have played 2 games less. So finishing in the top-four will be a realistic target for the Foxes. But they will be facing some tough schedules in December. After Wednesday’s EFL Cup match, they are facing champions Manchester City away on Boxing Day and welcomes Liverpool three days later at Kings Power Stadium.
Brendan Rodgers’ side are struggling to perform against the big clubs lately. They beat Brighton on penalties in the Round of 16 to reach the quarter-finals. They last won EFL Cup 21 years ago and have qualified for the semi-finals just once since then. Their recent record against Liverpool is also not helpful. They have yet to win at Anfield in the last 10 matches, where they lost 8 fixtures.
Liverpool vs Leicester City EFL Cup Team News & Injury Update:
Liverpool
Liverpool are missing key players to the Covid-19 outbreak, just like other clubs. There are no fresh injury concerns for Jurgen Klopp, but he will miss star left-back Andrew Robertson, who will be missing 3 matches due to suspension. Roberto Firmino will be making his first start since returning from the injury.
Klopp is having a midfield scare right now. All three midfield trio Thiago Alcantara, Fabinho, and captain Jordan Henderson are missing due to Covid-19 and illness issues. Rotational midfielders Curtis Jones is suffering from Covid-19 and Harvey Elliot remains sidelined to long-term injury. Liverpool have a good number of young players who will feature in the starting eleven on Wednesday. So we can witness all eleven changes from the German tactician.
Leicester City
Leicester City’s injury woes are worse than any other English team. Seven key players are sidelined due to the outbreak of the Covid-19. That list includes Ayoze Perez, Kelechi Iheanacho, Jannik Vestergaard, Daley Campbell, Hamza Choudhury, Ademola Lookman, and Filip Benkovic.
They are also missing out on star centre-back trio Caglar Soyuncu, Jonny Evans, and Wesley Fofana. Both Soyuncu and Evans started against Newcastle United but nor reportedly out of Wednesday’s fixture due to minor injuries. It will be interesting to see who Brendan Rodgers could deploy in the defence.
Liverpool vs Leicester City EFL Cup Predicted Line-ups and Result:
Liverpool: Kelleher, Williams, Gomez, Konate, Tsimikas, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Morton, Milner, Gordon, Firmino, Minamino.
Leicester City: Schmeichel, Albrighton, Amartey, Ndidi, Bertrand, Tielemans, Soumare, Maddison, Dewsbury-Hall, Barnes, Daka.
Predicted Result: Liverpool 1-2 Leicester City.
Liverpool will surely go with the young squad with eleven changed to the previous squad. Klopp will be focusing on keeping the legs fresh for the Premier League fixtures. Leicester City will be reading this fixture after a good break of nine days. Despite missing most of the defence, the Foxes will fancy this one to change their Anfield record.