The King Power Club have performed largely to expectations thus far this campaign. Cifuentes has guided the Foxes to three wins from four and one loss, with that loss being against solid if not exciting opposition. Against Oxford United, the Spaniard will be expected to deliver another victory.
With that crucial goal in mind, it is worth discussing whether Leicester's head coach would look to disturb the starting line-up and high-impact players he has relied upon thus far, or whether a drastic change would be better suited. I would expect Cifuentes to integrate the new signings (possibly more to come) to show they are immediately valued and part of his plans before possibly bringing on some of those who will have to make way.
Leicester City Predicted Starting Lineup
Leicester City has currently signed five players: two goalkeepers to replace Danny Ward and Daniel Iversen, two midfielders to replace Bilal El Khannouss and Wilfred Ndidi, and a striker to replace Jamie Vardy. We have also seen the promotion of a few young talents in Louis Page and the starlet Jeremy Monga.
The backline will likely be made up of the same talents who played in our previous fixtures. Jakub Stolarczyk who has performed admirably across all four matches should start in goal, although I would not be surprised to see Francisco Vieites get a debut. That being said, I expect Vieites to be our cup goalkeeper rather than the Championship No.1.
Luke Thomas, Jannik Vestergaard, Caleb Okoli, and Hamza Choudhury will probably form the back four. However, I would not put it past Cifuentes to rely instead on the - somehow still here - Wout Faes instead of Vestergaard. My preference would see Ricardo Pereira as captain at right-back instead of Choudhury.
In the middle, we will see the most changes. Jordan James takes up that No.6/No.8 pivot role, starring alongside either Oliver Skipp or Boubakary Soumare - I expect the Frenchman - and Aaron Ramsey should hold the No.10 spot. Louis Page and Harry Winks will probably become impact subs for the Foxes unless the Spaniard recognises Winks' passing ability, which should place him alongside James and Ramsey.
Up front, the King Power side will likely switch out Jordan Ayew, and it is only the left-wing position really up for contention. Julian Carranza will start as No.9 looking to make a swift impact and a case to remain in the East Midlands next season. On the right, the ever brilliant Abdul Fatawu obviously starts. On the left, Cifuentes has usually opted for Stephy Mavididi first, although Jeremy Monga has been bright.
Stolarczyk, Thomas, Vestergaard, Okoli, Choudhury, James, Soumare, Ramsey, Monga, Carranza, Fatawu. That is a starting XI I think most people could agree with, with the only exceptions being perhaps Winks, Faes, and Pereira. Cifuentes will need to start most of the new signings to show why they got them and help build supporter confidence in the players brought in.