Leicester City vs Liverpool preview: Foxes hunt progression as Reds make first trip of two to the King Power Stadium

Leicester City continue their League Cup campaign on Tuesday night as they welcome Liverpool to the King Power Stadium for the first of two clashes between the sides in a week.

The two come together in Premier League action in Leicester on Saturday evening. First though, Craig Shakespeare's Foxes host the Jürgen Klopp's Reds in what is arguably one of the ties of the round and both will be keen to progress to the next round of the competition.

Tough tie

Ahead of the clash in the East-Midlands Leicester enjoyed a fine evening in the last round as they dispatched of Chris Wilder's Sheffield United. Winning 4-1 at Bramall Lane, Islam Slimani netted a brace for the visitors with Demarai Gray and Ahmed Musa also finding the net.

Nonetheless, the three-time League cup winners are presented with a much bigger task this time around. Liverpool arrive at the King Power Stadium having lifted the trophy an unprecedented eight times, and have been runners-up on four occasions. Manchester United are the Reds' nearest competitors having claimed the title five times - the most recent being last season's success.

The clash with Leicester is Liverpool's first venture into this year's instalment though, with those clubs in Europe entering at the third round stage.

The Foxes enjoyed that pleasure last season due to their participation in the UEFA Champions League but were eliminated by Chelsea at the first hurdle. Liverpool meanwhile managed to reach the semi-finals but were halted by Southampton courtesy of a 2-0 aggregate loss.

Close to call?

If history is anything to go by, it could be quite a close match at the King Power Stadium. The Reds boast a marginally better record than their opponents having earned victory on 44 occasions to the Foxes' 38, 24 drawn. Liverpool also claimed the win the last time these two met in the League Cup - a 4-1 success at Anfield in 1986.

The Foxes though have emphatically swept aside their visitors in the last two matches at the King Power Stadium. Jamie Vardy netted twice in the last meeting as Leicester strode to a 3-1 victory. In fact, the East-Midlanders have only lost twice to the Reds on home soil in over 20 years.

An intriguing fixture that could give a clue as to what the outcome could be between the two is the clash between Liverpool and Leicester during pre-season. Jürgen Klopp and Craig Shakespeare came together in the Premier League Asia Trophy Final and goals from Philippe Coutinho and Mohamed Salah cancelled out Islam Slimani's opener to take the spoils for the Reds.

Goals could be guaranteed though. Craig Shakespeare's troops have not managed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 12 League Cup games and it looks to be quite a large ask to keep out the likes of Salah, Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, amongst others.

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Talking in his pre-match press conference, Leicester boss Craig Shakespeare suggested that their could be changes to the side seen in the 1-1 draw with Huddersfield Town at the weekend.

Jamie Vardy, who has scored four goals in five Premier League games, looks to be out with a tight groin. It could be expected then that Islam Slimani could be called upon yet again. Midfielder Matty James and defender Christian Fuchs will also be missing as they recover from an Achilles and eye injury respectively.

Robert Huth is still recovering from an ankle injury sustained in pre-season. Shakespeare told that youngsters Hamza Choudhury and Josh Knight will be included in the squad on Tuesday evening. Aleksandar Dragović could make his Foxes' debut after joining the club on-loan from Bayer Leverkusen on deadline day.

Jürgen Klopp has also revealed that he could make a few alterations to his starting XI. Goalkeeper Danny Ward is set to start in goal ahead of the likes of Loris Karius and Simon Mignolet. Deadline Day signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is in contention to start, as are the likes of Marko Grujić and Dejan Lovren.

After completing his loan spell at Burnley last season, Jon Flanagan will also be included in the squad for the trip to the East-Midlands. Andrew Robertson and Dominic Solanke could be called upon while Adam Lallana and Nathaniel Clyne remain absent through injury.