Liverpool-Leicester is a match for the third round of the League Cup and is played on Wednesday at 20:45: stats, line-ups and predictions.
The season, in England, has started a month and a half ago and the time is ripe to draw the first conclusions. Liverpool’s is certainly positive: the Reds, unlike last year, are off to a great start and only two points separate them in the league from Manchester City, the only team still on full points.
The victory at Anfield Road against West Ham, the sixth in a row (including the Europa League clash with Austria’s Lask Linz), allowed Jurgen Klopp to take sole second place, leaving behind the two Londoners, Arsenal and Tottenham, who took points off each other. Against the Hammers, Liverpool did not need to make a comeback, unlike in their previous matches: after the first half had ended in a draw, in the second half the Reds’ greater quality took over and two players who had been disappointing last season, for one reason or another, came to the fore: Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota. The unbeaten run continues for Salah and his team-mates, who have not lost since last April, when they were overwhelmed 4-1 by Guardiola’s City. Now the debut in the League Cup, the cup that Liverpool lifted two seasons ago thanks to their success in the final against Chelsea on penalties.
Maresca’s Leicester fly to Championship
Klopp, as he usually does in domestic cups, will indulge in turnover, keeping most of the starters at rest: chances for the likes of Bajcetic, Endo and Gakpo.
Maresca
Will they be enough to beat Leicester, who are back in the Premier League after last year’s relegation? That remains to be seen. The Foxes, meanwhile, have immediately adapted to the new category and after eight matches have obtained seven victories: the only blemish was the home defeat against Hull City. The 21 points are in any case worth the first place in the table (arm in arm with Ipswich) for the men led by the Italian Enzo Maresca.
The Prediction
Despite Klopp’s turnover, Liverpool should make it through the third round of the League Cup. Leicester at the moment have no other thoughts beyond the league, which they must try to win to get back upstairs immediately. At Anfield Road in any case, an eventful match is looming, with at least three goals in total.
The likely Liverpool-Leicester line-ups
- LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Kelleher; Bajcetic, Konaté, Quansah, Tsimikas; Elliott, Endo, Gravenberch; Doak, Gakpo, Diogo Jota.
- LEICESTER (4-3-3): Stolarczyk; Pereira, Faes, Vestergaard, Justin; Casadei, Ndidi, Winks; Akgun, Iheanacho, Mavididi.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-1
