When Leicester City visit Bank’s Stadium on Saturday afternoon for the fourth round of the FA Cup, Walsall of League Two will attempt to pull off a giant-killing.
Michael Flynn’s team defeated Stockport County to advance to the fourth round, while Leicester City defeated Gillingham 1-0 in their previous match.
Match preview
Walsall’s decision to stick with Flynn throughout their fall problems has paid off, as they welcome Leicester to Bank’s Stadium on a hot sequence of success in league and cup play, which includes a measure of payback against Stockport.
Less than two weeks after losing 2-0 to the Hatters in the league – their only loss in their previous 13 matches in all competitions – Walsall avenged that loss by defeating their fellow fourth-tier opponent 2-1 in the FA Cup third round on the strength of goals from Danny Johnson and Andy Williams sandwiching Paddy Madden’s reply.
Williams scored in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time, and the Saddlers are now potentially only 90 minutes away from advancing to the fifth round for the first time since 2002-03, when they were eliminated by Fulham, but a fourth-round finish is already their best since the 2015-16 season.
The hosts’ last 13 games have yielded nine victories, three draws, and just one loss to Stockport, propelling them to 11th in the League Two standings. However, they could only draw 1-1 with Tranmere Rovers two weekends ago, and their match with AFC Wimbledon was postponed due to frigid weather.
As impressive as Walsall’s recent form has been, Flynn’s squad has kept just one clean sheet in their previous eight matches across all competitions, and they have conceded at least one goal in each of their last four Banks’s Stadium encounters.
Kelechi Iheanacho’s lone goal in Leicester’s FA Cup third-round match against Gillingham may have saved Brendan Rodgers’ career. The Foxes entered the match having suffered three consecutive Premier League defeats.
A loss to Neil Harris’s crisis team would have been inconceivable for Leicester, but Iheanacho’s 56th-minute goal was enough to advance the 2020-21 champions to the fourth round as they take a much-needed breather from their terrible Premier League form.
The World Cup break occurred at the most inopportune time for a Leicester City team that was gaining momentum prior to Qatar, but Rodgers’ men were on the verge of defeating European-chasing Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend before Evan Ferguson salvaged a 2-2 draw for the Seagulls.
Now 14th in the table, with only one point separating them from the relegation zone, Rodgers’s side are aiming for their ninth win in their last ten FA Cup matches against League Two opponents. However, their only loss in that sequence came at the hands of current Walsall manager Flynn, who oversaw Newport County’s historic victory in 2018-19.
Walsall defeated Leicester 1-0 in the fourth round of the FA Cup in 1977-78, but the Saddlers have subsequently suffered five losses and one draw in their previous six games with the Foxes, including a 4-1 League One setback in 2008-09.
Team News
Jamille, a rookie at Walsall Matt played for Forest Green Rovers in earlier stages of the competition and is therefore unable to compete here. As a result, players such as Williams, Douglas James-Taylor, and Conor Wilkinson will compete to play with Johnson.
Johnson left the FA Cup victory against Stockport with an injury but returned in time for the draw with Tranmere, when Manny Monthe was dismissed for two bookable offenses; hence, the center-back is suspended for the visit to Leicester.
Walsall have signed former Cameroon youth international Yann Songo’o, who is eligible to make his debut here, from Bradford City. Walsall have also called upon Oisin McEntee to stand in for Monthe.
As for Leicester, Rodgers is still without a number of injured players, including Ryan Bertrand, James Justin, Wifred Ndidi, Ricardo Pereira, Jonny Evans, Boubakary Soumare, and Dennis Praet, who was substituted against Brighton with a minor ankle injury; however, Ayoze Perez is available to replace Praet, who did not sustain serious ligament damage.
Victor Kristiansen, a 20-year-old left-back from Copenhagen, is the sole player signed by the visitors so far in the January transfer window. The Dane might make his debut for Rodgers’ squad today, possibly from the opening whistle if Luke Thomas is rested.
The likes of Daniel Iversen, Lewis Brunt, Marc Albrighton, and Iheanacho should be in line for starts here, although it remains to be seen whether Caglar Soyuncu will be included in light of the rumors linking him to Atletico Madrid. James Maddison was able to get minutes off the bench against Brighton and could do so here as well.
Evans; White; Daniels; McEntee; Knowles; Kinsella; Hutchinson; Comley; Gordon; Williams; Johnson.
Iversen; Castagne, Soyuncu, Vestergaard, Kristiansen; Albrighton, Mendy, Brunt, Perez; Daka, Iheanacho; Kristiansen, Kristiansen
We say: Walsall 1-3 Leicester City
Walsall have been a force to be reckoned with during the winter and may be bullish about penetrating a frail Leicester defense, especially a patchwork unit.
However, the Foxes’ offensive performance against Brighton was considerably improved, and they should not be in danger of being eliminated on Saturday.
Who will win Saturday’s FA Cup clash between Walsall and Leicester?
»Walsall vs. Leicester City – preview, prediction, team news, and lineups«