Leicester City team news, injuries, expected starting XI for FA Cup
The Leicester City team is in Wales for an FA Cup Third Round tie versus Newport County. This is the expected starting line-up for the Foxes following Claude Puel’s pre-match press conference:
Just in case you Leicester City supporters are not too familiar with the South Wales outfit, here are the main facts about Newport County: the Exiles are in Football League Two; play in the Rodney Parade Stadium, 11,500 capacity. Founded in 1912, the club was first called the Ironsiders. Claim to fame: European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-finalists in 1980/81.
Sunday’s fixture against the East Midlands club is another great opportunity for Newport to showcase their talents and possibly cause a fairytale FA Cup upset by knocking the Premier League side out. However, it won’t be that simple; yet Leicester City manager Claude Puel will not start his main XI.
Which changes will be made from the team which beat Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park?
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Puel presser
So, what did the man from France who had the most surprising Christmas present ever recorded in history – victories over Chelsea and Manchester City – say about the big match? Well interestingly, per Leicester Mercury, he indicated that he:
"“may leave some players out of Sunday’s FA Cup third round tie at Newport County if he feels they are distracted by the transfer window.”"
By our reckoning, those players to be ‘rested’ are: Fousseni Diabate, Adrien Silva and Andy King – unless a farewell to the Leicester City legend is planned. Vicente Iborra is in Spain for family reasons and a transfer away is imminent.
Puel also spoke of the need for freshness by rotating his squad for peripheral teammates to get a vital chance to impress, especially when playing respectively lesser opposition. For once the 57-year-old did not want to name his injury list; bar Wes Morgan being available for selection since recovering from illness.
He certainly has a strong case to win it. #LCFC 🔥🔥https://t.co/ybbiHKu5md
— Foxes of Leicester (@FoxesofLCFC) January 4, 2019
Leicester City starting XI
With all the above taken in account, and the boss stating his desire to name a strong side, Leicester should line-up something along these lines in a 4-2-3-1:
Danny Ward; Christian Fuchs, Caglar Soyuncu, Morgan (c), Danny Simpson; Hamza Choudhury, Matty James; Demarai Gray, Shinji Okazaki, Rachid Ghezzal; Kelechi Iheanacho.
Development forward Admiral Muskwe is reportedly also in the match-day squad. In addition, it will be wonderful to see the return to first team action for unlucky, constant injury sufferer James.
Must Read. Harvey Barnes is almost certainly returning. light
We shall leave you Foxes with a Puel quote via LCFC LIVE, which hopefully won’t ring true: “It’s why people like this cup, because an upset is possible.”