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

Second-from-bottom Leicester City welcome Hull City to the King Power Stadium on Tuesday night in a crucial clash at both ends of the Championship table.

The Foxes were left staring at relegation following a 1-0 defeat to Portsmouth, leaving them eight points adrift of safety with just three games remaining, while the Tigers extended their winless run to four matches after a 1-1 draw with Birmingham City.

Match preview

Following their relegation from the Premier League last season, Leicester City would have entered the 2025-26 campaign with hopes of fighting it out at the top end of the table.

Instead, with only three matches remaining, Gary Rowett’s side are on the verge of back-to-back relegations and face the very real prospect of dropping into League One for the first time since 2009.

Marti Cifuentes, Andy King and now Rowett have all shared the dugout as Foxes manager this season and failed to generate the consistency needed to steer the former Premier League champions clear of danger.

With time running out and two of their remaining fixtures coming against top-six opposition, Leicester’s hopes of survival appear slim, with their 11 league wins proving costly.

Their latest setback came at Fratton Park, where a 1-0 defeat not only dented their own survival hopes but also boosted a direct rival, as Portsmouth moved seven points clear of the bottom three.

As for Hull City, they are competing at the other end of the table with hopes of ending the campaign in the top six.

Despite a scare with relegation themselves last season, the Tigers appointed Sergej Jakirovic as their manager last summer who has led his side to 20 wins, 11 draws and 15 losses in his 46 matches in the dugout.

The impressive season means they head into their final three games in sixth, with their 69 points giving them a two-point cushion over seventh placed Wrexham.

With that said, Jakirovic's side come into their run-in out of form and in need of finding some much-needed momentum before they can plan any potential playoff semi-finals.

A 1-1 draw at home to Birmingham City at the weekend ensured they continued their push to a top six finish with a stutter, with the draw meaning they are winless in four and Tuesday night will be exactly a month on since their last league victory.

Tuesday’s fixture comes exactly a month after their last league victory, and a return to winning ways here could see them open up a five-point cushion inside the top six and take a significant step towards securing a playoff spot and a small step closer to a return to the Premier League.

Leicester City Championship form:

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Hull City Championship form:

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Team News

Leicester have appeared to come away from their weekend defeat with no further injuries, however Rowett may be tempted to change things up to ignite the miracle they desperately need.

Despite that, they are without the defensive trio of Ben Nelson, Caleb Okoli and Victor Kristiansen.

Jordan James has been a small bright spark in what has been an otherwise dismal season, the Welsh midfielder is expected to come in for his first start since sustaining an injury setback.

As for the visitors, they also have the luxury of naming the same XI once again as they sustained no additional injury blows.

Oli McBurnie and Joe Gelhardt, both on 14 league goals this season, will keep their spots in attack and look to continue their free scoring form.

John Lundstram missed the weekend encounter through suspension but has now served his time and can be selected in midfield once again.

However, the Tigers remain without Cody Drameh, Regan Slater, Ryan Giles and David Akintola, all of whom are sidelined through injury.

Leicester City possible starting lineup:

Begovic; R. Pereira, Lascelles, Vestergaard, Thomas; James, Winks; Fatawu, De Cordova-Reid, Mavididi; Daka

Hull City possible starting lineup:

Pandur; Coyle, Ajayi, Egan, McNair; Hadziahmetovic, Crooks; Belloumi, Gelhardt, Millar; McBurnie

We say: Leicester City 0-2 Hull City

At opposite ends of the table and contrasting aims for how they wish to end the season, we see high-flying Hull City returning to winning ways with a comfortable away victory.

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