Leicester City have the chance to secure top spot in their Europa League group with victory over Zorya Luhansk.
The Foxes beat the Ukrainian outfit 3-0 at the King Power on match week one thanks to goals from James Maddison, Harvey Barnes and Kelechi Iheanacho.
Despite the confidence boost that the last result would bring, the East Midlands side come into the game without a win in three games, with the most recent game being a shock 2-1 loss at the hands of Fulham.
In light of the fact that Leicester are in this run, coupled with the fact that qualification is already secured, it will be interesting to see how Leicester set up for the match.
Strong lineup to gain top spot on the night
This option is two fold as, should they win, they would gain top spot meaning that they could rest the squad for the game against AEK Athens. Not only this, but they would return to winning ways and re-introduce a confidence in their play that they were visibly lacking in the fixture against Fulham. On paper, playing their full strength team would give them the best chance at doing so, while keeping faith of players that may not have performed to their best during the club's recent run of form.
However, this would be a risky strategy due to the amount of minutes that the core squad has had to play due to injuries and a congested schedule. The fatigue has the possibility to affect the players' quality which could jeopardize the match, while crucially, may put members of the squad at risk to injuries that the club cannot afford to suffer with multiple absentees already.
Use the game to make changes
As qualification is already secured, the game represents an ample opportunity to tweak the system, tactics and personnel in a bid to rest players, try out potential systems for future games and most importantly, to re-integrate injured stars. Ricardo Pereira, Wilfred Ndidi, and Caglar Soyuncu could come back into the matchday squad after long periods out and this is the likely route that Rodgers will take.
While the top spot is available, there is not as much to play for thanks to the dramatic injury time equaliser against SC Braga in the Foxes' last European outing, meaning that there is less pressure on the squad to get a result. This gives Brendan Rodgers room to work with as he looks to turn the side's form around. This could include tactical shifts in the way that the team attacks, especially if Zorya sit in a low block, something that Leicester have been known to struggle with.
Likewise, a shift in how the team defends could be on the cards for Rodgers, specifically the gaps between the centre backs and the full backs as opponents have exploited space between these lines, with Ademola Lookman's opener for Fulham the most recent example of this.
Give youth a chance
Leicester have named a number of young players onto their squad list and the game against Zorya could be an opportunity to hand out first team debuts.
Much like Leicester's Champions League fixture against Porto on matchweek six, whereby a young Harvey Barnes was given his first outing in the first team, there was little to play for. This meant that the first team squad was rotated out and those on the periphery were given the chance to prove themselves. Fans will remember however, that game did not go to plan as the Foxes were demolished 5-0.
It is unlikely that Rodgers will rotate the squad as much as this, but with so many young names that are available for the teamsheet and the freedom that last week's qualification brings, it would be surprising not to see at least one of those names feature.