Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s FA Cup clash between Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Having scraped past two fourth-tier sides en route to the fifth round, a step-up in class awaits Leicester City in Tuesday’s FA Cup tie, as Championship side Blackburn Rovers travel to the King Power Stadium.
The Foxes posted a 1-0 win at Walsall to progress to the last-16 stage, while their second-tier counterparts won by the same scoreline away to Birmingham City in a replay.
Match preview
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Forcing his way into Brendan Rodgers‘s good books has sometimes been a thankless task for Kelechi Iheanacho, but the Foxes would not have been in the hat for the fifth-round draw had it not been for the Nigerian’s pivotal strikes against Gillingham and Walsall.
After relying on Iheanacho to defeat an out-of-sorts Gillingham 1-0 in round three, history repeated itself for Leicester at the home of Walsall, who frustrated Rodgers’s side for 68 minutes before Iheanacho came off the bench to settle the contest.
Beating Walsall in round four was briefly the catalyst for improved fortunes for Leicester, but their luck ran out in a 3-0 loss to Manchester United before Gabriel Martinelli struck the only goal of the game in a 1-0 success for Arsenal at the weekend.
Asserting their dominance against lower-tier opposition in the FA Cup has been a struggle for Leicester this season, but the Foxes can at least boast to have progressed from each of their last three fifth-round ties, all of which came at the King Power Stadium via 1-0 scorelines.
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With a return to the Premier League at the forefront of their minds, winning the FA Cup for the seventh time is down the list of Blackburn Rovers’ priorities, but Jon Dahl Tomasson‘s side will relish the opportunity to test their mettle against a top-tier mainstay.
Also displaying an affinity for 1-0 scorelines in the FA Cup – beating Norwich City by that margin in round three – Blackburn played out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Birmingham in their first fourth-round battle before also edging the replay thanks to a stroke of fortune – Auston Trusty scoring an own goal in the 100th minute.
Blackburn’s luck would seemingly run out after the trip to St Andrew’s, as Tomasson’s side drew each of their next three Championship encounters, but they have since posted a trio of consecutive wins in the second tier – the most recent of which came at Queens Park Rangers 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Having already ended a miserable streak of five successive third-round exits, Blackburn are out to make the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since the 2014-15 campaign. They got as far as round five in the subsequent two seasons, but West Ham United and Manchester United sent them packing on both occasions.
The Riversiders – who sit fourth in the Championship table – also bring a nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions to the King Power Stadium, as the two sides lock horns for the first time since the 2013-14 second-tier campaign.
Leicester City FA Cup form:
Leicester City form (all competitions):
Blackburn Rovers FA Cup form:
Blackburn Rovers form (all competitions):
Team News
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James Maddison‘s disrupted campaign continued at the weekend, as the pivotal Leicester playmaker was ruled out of the defeat to Arsenal after falling ill overnight, and it is unclear whether he will fight off the affliction in time for the cup clash.
Ryan Bertrand, James Justin and Jonny Evans represent the Foxes’ trio of injury absentees for the fifth round, and while the latter should be back in team training soon, a comeback on Tuesday is surely beyond the realm of possibility.
Having shown no mercy to Walsall with a strong starting XI in the fourth round, Rodgers should adopt a similar approach here, but changes could still be on the cards as Youri Tielemans, Nampalys Mendy and Patson Daka aim to return.
Meanwhile, Blackburn cannot call upon the services of January signing Sorba Thomas – who is cup-tied for this showdown – but Tomasson could do without any further absences as he works around a mini injury crisis.
All of Bradley Dack, Scott Wharton, Adam Wharton, Sam Barnes, Clinton Mola, Thomas Kaminski and Daniel Ayala occupy spots in the treatment room, while Thomas’s absence could lead to an immediate recall for Ben Brereton Diaz.
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Iversen; Pereira, Amartey, Faes, Thomas; Soumare, Tielemans; Tete, Dewsbury-Hall, Barnes; Daka
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Pears; Rankin-Costello, Carter, Hyam, Brittain; Travis, Buckley; Dolan, Szmodics, Brereton Diaz; Gallagher
We say: Leicester City 2-1 Blackburn Rovers (a.e.t)
It is not difficult to envisage an in-form Blackburn putting their more esteemed opponents to the sword on Tuesday, but the Foxes gave Man United several scares last week and could have easily come away from their clash against Arsenal with a point on another day.
Extra time may be required to settle this intriguing battle, but we still have faith in Rodgers’s side to return to their goalscoring ways and book themselves another quarter-final date.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
