Leicester City head into their EFL Cup third-round tie with Millwall looking to improve on an inconsistent start to the new season.
The Foxes currently occupy 12th position in the Premier League standings, while Millwall are down in 18th place in the Championship.
Match preview
© Reuters
Given the decisions which went against them against Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend, Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers will insist that his side should be higher in the top flight.
Nevertheless, three defeats in four league games, combined with letting slip a two-goal lead against Napoli in Europe, have left the Northern Irishman with work to do behind the scenes.
Rodgers would have felt that their defensive performances were trending in the right direction when only losing out 1-0 to Manchester City after the international break.
However, Leicester have now gone five matches without keeping a clean sheet, a statistic which will not sit well with the club's supporters even in the absence of James Justin and Wesley Fofana.
While Rodgers will make widespread changes to his team for this contest, the club's fringe players will be told in no uncertain terms that places are up for grabs over the coming weeks.
© Reuters
Sitting just one point above the Championship relegation zone, you would be forgiven for assuming that all is not well at Millwall.
Despite that position, the Lions have put together a four-match unbeaten streak, three successive draws coming against West Bromwich Albion, Swansea City and Coventry City respectively.
Two of those opponents are in the top four of the table, and manager Gary Rowett will be optimistic that his team are not far away from turning a corner.
Millwall have reached this stage of the EFL Cup with victories over Portsmouth and Cambridge United respectively, both wins coming at The Den.
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- D
- D
- D
- W
- L
- W
- L
- D
- L
Team News
© Reuters
James Maddison will likely retain his place in the Leicester XI as Rodgers looks for improvements from the playmaker.
Jannik Vestergaard may also keep his spot in the team, but mass changes are expected with the likes of Ademola Lookman and Patson Daka expected to feature in attack.
Jonny Evans is unlikely to be risked in the centre of defence after failing to prove his fitness ahead of the Brighton game.
Billy Mitchell and Mason Bennett are among the players who are in contention for a recall to the Millwall side.
Daniel Ballard and George Saville could be handed a rest after their recent spell with Northern Ireland, while goalkeeper George Long may be selected between the sticks.
Millwall possible starting lineup:
Long; Pearce, Wallace, Cooper; Leonard, Kieftenbeld, Mitchell, Malone; Wallace, Bennett; Smith
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Ward; Albrighton, Amartey, Vestergaard, Castagne; Dewsbury-Hall, Choudhury, Maddison; Lookman, Daka, Iheanacho
We say: Millwall 1-2 Leicester City
Both teams will change things up, something which should lead to an entertaining encounter at The Den. Nevertheless, the Foxes players who feature on Wednesday know that there are spaces available in the first team, and that could lead to a narrow win for the visitors.
Top tip
Darren Plant
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Leicester City win with a probability of 45.58%. A win for Millwall had a probability of 28.35% and a draw had a probability of 26.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Leicester City win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.29%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.08%) and 0-2 (8.27%). The likeliest Millwall win was 1-0 (8.46%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.39%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with an 8.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Leicester City would win this match.
