Preview: Oxford City vs Leicester City - prediction, team news, lineups

Fallen giants Leicester City will be aiming to avoid what would be one of the biggest shocks in recent FA Cup history when they head to National League North outfit Oxford City on Friday night in the first round of the tournament.

It is the first time that Leicester have competed in this round since 2008, and Oxford City have been given the chance to claim a huge scalp in the tournament.

Match preview

Oxford City have managed to progress to the second round of the FA Cup on three previous occasions - 1969-70, 2017-18 and 2020-21, so the club have previous when it comes to advancing past this stage of the famous cup competition.

The Hoops will enter this match off the back of a disappointing result, though, going down 3-1 at home to South Shields in the National League North on Saturday.

Ross Jenkins' side are currently second in the National League North, picking up 27 points from their opening 14 matches of the campaign, two points behind South Shields following the clash between the top two.

Oxford City have had to win three matches to reach this stage of the FA Cup, overcoming Dorchester, Enfield Town and Torquay to be present in the first round.

Leicester, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a 2-2 draw with Stevenage, with the result leaving them in 10th spot in the League One table.

The Foxes have won three of their last five league games, but there is no getting away from the fact that it has been a disappointing start to the season as a whole.

Leicester famously won this competition back in 2021, recording a famous 1-0 victory over Chelsea courtesy of a second-half effort from Youri Tielemans.

Russell Martin is still under pressure at Leicester but remains at the helm, with the 40-year-old bidding to help the Foxes secure a return to the Championship.

Leicester's last FA Cup fixture brought a 2-1 defeat to Southampton in the last-16 stage of the 2025-26 competition.

Oxford City FA Cup form:

Oxford City form (all competitions):

Leicester City form (all competitions):

Team News

Oxford City will be looking to Tyrone Marsh for goals on Friday, with the 32-year-old netting nine times in all competitions at the start of the 2026-27 campaign.

There will also be a position in the team for Scott Pollock, who has been another key performer this season, coming up with six goals and two assists in 13 appearances.

Ludwig Francillette and Josh Ashby are also set to be notable starters.

As for Leicester, there are set to be a number of changes to the team that took to the field for the 2-2 draw with Stevenage in the league last time out.

However, Ben Nelson and Jakub Stolarczyk are both out of the match through injury.

Conor Chaplin should be introduced in the final third of the field, while 19-year-old Ilari Kangasniemi is expected to be a notable starter at the back.

Fellow teenager Louis Page is expected to be among those to be rested.

Oxford City possible starting lineup:

Maxted; Nelson, Francillette, Carroll, Humphries; Tetek, Ashby; Bateman, Pollock, Brown; Marsh

Leicester City possible starting lineup:

McCarthy; Aluko, Souttar, Kangasniemi, Thomas; Lundstram, Neale; Howell, Chaplin, Watson; Bristric

We say: Oxford City 0-3 Leicester City

We are not predicting an FA Cup shock on Friday night; Leicester should have too much quality for their National League North opponents in the first round of the tournament.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.