Leicester v Ipswich: Predicted starting XI amidst injury crisis
Leicester City Injuries and Suspensions
Leicester City are dealing with their first truly negative situation since the start of the Championship campaign. The Foxes lost last time out to Coventry City with Abdul Fatawu picking up a straight red card for a late challenge, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall picking up an injury which has kept him out of training.
The first team pair find themselves joining another four who will definitely be out for the Ipswich Town fixture. Wilfred Ndidi, Patson Daka, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Harry Souttar will each be absent for their own reasons. That is a sizeable chunk of the options Enzo Maresca had to pad out the squad.
As a brief preview of what to expect from the tie, the King Power side has constructed roughly 1.78 in xG90 whereas their opponents usually construct 0.90. Ipswich on the other hand have constructed 1.57 in xG90 and conceded 1.03. The easy expectation would be 2-2 or 2-1 either way.
Predicted Starting XI
Maresca's team are limited in their options, with two positions in midfield and one upfront with the boss having to come up with an answer. However, the rest of the team should be fairly cut and paste from previous encounters.
Position | Player |
|---|---|
Goalkeeper | Mads Hermansen |
Defender | Callum Doyle |
Defender | Jannik Vestergaard |
Defender | Wout Faes |
Defender | Ricardo Pereira |
Midfielder | Harry Winks |
Midfielder | Wanya Marcal-Madivadua |
Midfielder | Dennis Praet? |
Forward | Stephy Mavididi |
Forward | Tom Cannon |
Forward | Kasey McAteer |
A simple starting XI featuring the ever-missing Dennis Praet and the only other point of contention likely being McAteer over Marc Albrighton which is also a possibility. I honestly doubt the Belgian midfielder would be used, but it is hard to consider alternate options. I suppose we could see Hamza Choudhury placed in midfield alongside Winks, and that would be more defensively sound.
Further, regarding the rest of the team, I would find it most confusing should the Italian head coach decide to make any major changes to the usual starting XI. I also expect the same tactics to be deployed as Maresca usually uses. It would be most surprising if the boss made changes beyond what was necessary to fill the gaps in the squad until Fatawu, KDH, and a new midfielder enter.
What team do you think Leicester City will deploy for this important tie? Let Foxes of Leicester know through our social media channels.
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