Leicester City will aim to pull away at the top of the EFL Championship table when they travel to Birmingham City on Monday night.
Leicester City will have a glorious chance to pull away at the top of the EFL Championship standings when they visit St. Andrews to take on Birmingham City on Monday night.
Enzo Maresca’s side are currently top on goal difference but have played a game less than second placed Ipswich Town and third-placed Leeds United. With the latter two drawing their respective games, the Foxes now have the opportunity to open up a three point gap at the summit.
Birmingham City, on the other hand, might be closer to the relegation zone than the top six, but a trip to St Andrews is never easy. In fact, only Leeds United have lost fewer home games in the second tier of English football this season than Birmingham.
Leicester might be top but have had to struggle in certain games this season. While they do have the better squad on paper, Maresca and Co. will need to be on their toes. Should they falter, the Blues will get their first win over the Foxes in the league since 2011.
Wayne Rooney secured just his second win as the Birmingham City boss against Cardiff City last time around. The Manchester United legend will now hope to push on and put together a string of positive results.
The Blues will face few tougher challenges than the Foxes this season, and this Monday’s result should give us an idea of where both the sides might end up come the end of the season standings. The Hard Tackle takes a look at how these two sides will line up and what tactics they might employ.
Team News & Tactics
Birmingham City
Wayne Rooney will be glad to secure a win and will now hope to put on a series of positive results for his side. The Manchester United legend is still earning his stripes as a manager and has much to prove if he is to make it big on the sidelines.
Birmingham are more likely to challenge for a spot in the relegation dogfight rather than sneak into the playoff contention unless their results pick up. A positive result over Leicester City will certainly boost morale in the Birmingham City camp and perhaps provide the Blues with the inspiration to turn their campaign around.
However, injuries to key players could influence Rooney’s selection on the night. George Hall, Tyler Roberts, Keshi Anderson, Alfie Chang, Ethan Laird, Cody Drameh and Kevin Long are all nursing knocks and are unavailable for the night.
Rooney is likely to go with a 4-2-3-1 formation on the night, with John Ruddy in goal. The veteran goalkeeper is likely to be protected by the quartet of Emanuel Aiwu, Marc Roberts, Dion Sanderson and Lee Buchanan.
Krystian Bielik and Ivan Sunjic should reprise their roles as the double pivot, aiming to stifle the Leicester midfield and set the pace of the game. Siriki Dembele and Juninho Bacuna should provide the width, with Jordan James donning the number ten’s role. Jay Stansfield should start up front and will act as the will the focal point of Birmingham’s attack on the night.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Ruddy; Aiwu, Roberts, Sanderson, Buchanan; Bielik, Sunjic; Dembele, James, Bacuna, Stansfield
Leicester City
The Foxes had to dig deep against Ipswich Town last time around and have adopted a more pragmatic approach of late. Maresca’s men are currently top on goal difference and now have the opportunity to give themselves some breathing space.
Birmingham City have won just two of Wayne Rooney’s 10 games in charge and should look like the ideal opposition for Leicester City on paper. However, St. Andrews is more or less a fortress and should prove to be a challenge for Maresca and Co. to overcome.
The Foxes do have concerns of their own with the likes of Callum Doyle, Yunus Akgun, Kasey McAteer, and Marc Albrighton all pout injured. Veteran star Jamie Vardy and Harvey Souttar are both a doubt and could at best, make the bench for the match.
Maresca should retain his 4-3-3 formation and will hope to continue his side’s purple patch of form. Mads Hermansen should start in goal behind the back four of Ricardo Pereira, Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard and James Justin.
Harry Winks and Wilfred Ndidi will start in midfield, with Kiernan Drewsbury-Hall given the license to push forward when needed. Abdul Fatawu and Stephy Mavididi should start out wide with Kelechi Iheanacho leading the line. Patson Daka is in good form and could be brought of when needed.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Hermansen; Pereira, Faes, Vestergaard, Justin; Ndidi, Winks, Dewsbury-Hall; Fatawu, Iheanacho, Mavididi
Key Stats
- This is the first league meeting between Birmingham City and Leicester City since 2014.
- Leicester City last lost a league game to Birmingham City in 2011. Since then, the Foxes have gone on an unbeaten run of five matches against the Blues.
- Only Leeds United have lost fewer games at home this season in the EFL Championship than Birmingham City.
- Leicester City have won eight of their opening ten away games in the league this season. This is the most they have achieved in the opening ten away games of a season in club history.
Player to Watch
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
The eNGLISH midfielder has been of the club’s driving forces this season as they aim to get back into the Premier League. He has made full use of the blanket of security provided by Harry Winks to make use of his offensive abilities.
Dewsbury-Hall should once again have the task of progressing the ball and feeding it to the Foxes’ front three. How well he copes against the Birmingham double pivot could dictate the pace of the game.
Prediction
Birmingham City 1-2 Leicester City
St. Andrews is not an easy place to go to, but Leicester City have the quality to swing the tie in their favour. It is unlikely to be pretty poor aesthetically pleasing. But the Foxes should come away with all three points to show for their efforts. The Hard Tackle predicts a hard-fought 2-1 win for Enzo Maresca and his charges.