Blackburn vs Leicester: predicted Foxes Starting XI
Leicester City travel to face Blackburn Rovers as they seek to continue their terrific form. However, without Callum Doyle, the lineup has to change.
Enzo Maresca has an unexpected and unfortunate task to undertake. With Doyle injured, the Italian head coach must make a major decision in absence of any left-sided defenders available: either change the system or try to piece together a different backline. Another consideration must be whether to start Conor Coady or retain the surprisingly impressive Jannik Vestergaard.
After all, versus Liverpool we saw a different setup of players, who performed valiantly for most of the game before a second half route left the King Power club down and out of the cup with little more than a whimper. A blistering whimper from Kasey McAteer to be fair, but a whimper nonetheless.
Leicester City’s best chance to win
There are two options for the Foxes: either make a singular change to the expected lineup or take a look at how the midweek fixture went and make several changes based on that success. Personally, I would make very few changes to the side which has been nigh unchanged for the last few ties.
Mads Hermansen, Ricardo Pereira, Coady, Wout Faes, James Justin, Harry Winks, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Wilfred Ndidi, Stephy Mavididi, McAteer, and Jamie Vardy. The same system, and only two changes really: the English fullback and former England international central defender brought in.
This does not mean the Danish defender cannot come on during the fixture to give Coady a break. We have to remember the player has only played a single match so is not 100% match ready, and the Championship is the priority for Maresca’s side. So, it would also not surprise me to see Vestergaard starting – as previously stated, the Dane has been excellent in recent weeks.
Alternately, Yunus Akgun in for the Nigerian midfielder, Abdul Fatawu for McAteer, and Harry Souttar for the Belgian CB. The benefit of this is that two of these additions are fresh off a decent performance against a Premier League side and could benefit from Championship exposure, and Fatawu could be used to rest the academy breakout star unless he became required to win.
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