Newcastle-Leicester is a League Cup quarter-final match and is played on Tuesday at 9pm: odds, predictions, TV and streaming.
The third round of the FA Cup in England is known as the ’round of surprises’. It coincides with a particular point in the season and it is not uncommon for a lower-ranked team to eliminate a big name, or at least a Premier League club.
This is what happened three days ago to Newcastle, which cashed its second defeat of the season – the first was in the Premier League against Liverpool – in the most important cup, being overwhelmed by Sheffield Wednesday, a noble decadence that now plays in League One, the equivalent of our Serie C. Last Saturday with the Owls it ended 2-1: clearly a matter of motivation, given that the Magpies’ coach Eddie Howe also played with several starters. Little bad, considering that the objective of the bianconeri, who are doing an extraordinary championship, is to return to play the European cups, especially the Champions League. Even in the League Cup, therefore, there is no expectation of a Newcastle with blood in their eyes, although Howe has the chance to become the first coach since 1976 to take the Bianconeri to the League Cup semi-finals.
Leicester in danger again
The FA Cup misstep broke an unbeaten run that had lasted since August. Since then almost exclusively wins for Newcastle, who have only slowed down in the last period by drawing two games in a row with Leeds and Arsenal, running out of goals with both.
Leicester’s Soumaré
Leicester were also involved in the FA Cup at the weekend, but it wasn’t at all easy to get the better of little Gillingham (League Two), who were narrowly beaten (0-1) thanks to a goal from Nigerian Iheanacho at the start of the second half. However, it was a victory that allowed Brendan Rodgers and his side to catch their breath after their three Premier League defeats in a row put the Foxes just two points clear of the relegation zone.
The Prediction
The two teams faced each other in the league not even twenty days ago – on reversed pitches – and there was no history: 0-3 to Newcastle. Howe could make numerous changes but in our opinion the Magpies are definitely stronger and remain favourites, as there is a real chance of lifting a trophy after too long, too much time. This time the total goals could be less than three.
Newcastle-Leicester’s likely line-up
- NEWCASTLE (4-3-3): Pope; Manquillo, Lascelles, Botman, Lewis; Almiron, Bruno Guimaraes, Longstaff; Ritchie, Murphy, Wood.
- LEICESTER (4-4-2): Ward; Castagne, Amartey, Soyuncu, Thomas; Ndidi, Tielemans, Albrighton, Perez; Iheanacho, Daka.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-0
