Following their disappointing 3-0 loss to Liverpool on Sunday, Leicester City will be looking to bounce back with a win as they travel to Portugal on Thursday to face S.C. Braga in the Europa League.
A win against the Portuguese side could potentially see the Foxes qualify for the knockout phase of the competition, if in the other group game AEK Athens lose to Zorya Luhansk.
After beating Braga 4-0 before the international break the Foxes will be looking to pick up where they left off and secure their status in next round sooner rather than later.
Leicester City:
With fixtures coming quick and fast for the Foxes, Brendan Rodgers will most likely be looking to make a couple of changes from the squad who played against Liverpool, just to keep all his players fresh for the busy festive schedule that is just around the corner.
Speaking before the Liverpool game Brendan Rodgers confirmed that Leicester’s main absentees; Wilfred Ndidi (Abductor), Caglar Soyuncu (Abductor), Timothy Castagne (Hamstring) and Ricardo Pereira (ACL), were all back out training with the squad and making good progress in their recoveries.
Castagne was passed fit to start against Liverpool but didn’t feature in the squad, and after the game Rodgers said that he’d felt a little pain in his hamstring but that a scan had come back good and will just be rested for the week meaning he’ll be back for Monday's Premier League fixture against Fulham.
Pereira made his first appearance in eight months on Monday as he played 60 minutes for Leicester’s Under-23 side but will be rested for the game against Braga in order for him to be ready for Fulham.
Ndidi and Soyuncu will still be out for a couple of weeks whilst they recover from their injuries.
Kelechi Iheanacho could start upfront having scored three goals and getting three assists so far in the Europa League.
Leicester Starting XI: Schmeichel; Justin, Fofana, Evans, Fuchs, Thomas; Choudhury, Tielemans; Under, Maddison, Iheanacho.
S.C. Braga:
Braga never really showed up for the game at the King Power Stadium and Carlos Carvalhal and his squad will not want to make the same mistake twice especially on their own turf.
Since the reverse fixture, Braga have won two on the bounce beating S.L. Benfica in the league and Trofense in Portuguese league cup.
Braga will be without defender David Carmo who is suspended after accumulating to many yellow cards. Whilst Francisco Moura will be out now for up to six months after rupturing his ACL in training. Moura will be a massive loss for Braga especially after he bagged a brace against Benfica two weeks ago.
S.C. Braga Starting XI: Matheus; Esgaio, Viana, Silva, Sequeira; Medeiros, Musrati, Castro, Horta, Galeno; Paulinho.
Prediction:
The Foxes will be desperate to get back to winning ways after the loss to Liverpool and will be even more encouraged by the thought that a win could seal their spot in the next round of the competition.
Whilst Leicester will be expected to win this, expect Braga to be a bit more attacking than last time especially being at their ground. They’ll definitely want to go back level on points with Leicester at the top of the group.
3-1 Leicester.