Newcastle United Vs Leicester City: Brendan Rodgers to field strong team

Brendan Rodgers has confirmed that he will field a strong team for the Carabao Cup second round clash against Newcastle United.

Cup competitions represent a relatively easier route to Europe for teams outside the Big Six, and while Leicester City are in contention for direct European qualification this team around, Rodgers does not want to leave any stone unturned in his pursuit.

Former Foxes boss Claude Puel was guilty of not prioritising the cup games way too often as Leicester twice lost to Manchester City in the quarter-finals in successive seasons.

Rodgers, however,  seems more determined for a good cup run. Speaking ahead to the trip to St. James’ Park, he said:

"“You want to do well in the games.“We’ve got one game a week. It’s not as if we’re playing 60-odd games a season and we’ve got to rest players. Between now and Christmas we’ll have very few midweek games.“But of course we would like to have a good run in the cup competitions. That’s what we’ve all agreed. We’ve spoken on that.“We’ll always put a team out that we think can get a result. Players have a chance every day to prove to be in the team, so we’ll pick a side that can win the game.”"

Losing in the quarter-finals has become some kind of a habit for Leicester, so Rodgers would be hoping he can go a couple steps further and bring home some silverware.

In his way are Steve Bruce’s Newcastle, though. If their games against Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur – which they won 1-0 – are anything to go by, then they would not be easy to beat at all.

You just know that they will not allow Leicester to play their free-flowing football, meaning that the visitors have to be, as Andy Townsend would say, a split second quicker in everything they do.

This is a really tricky fixture, and as easy as it sounds, it has just as much potential to be a nightmare for Leicester if they are not careful enough.

Just a bit of smartness and a bit of astuteness, and Leicester should be fine.