Leicester City look to continue their FA Cup run as they take on a Blackburn Rovers side who have their own promotion aspirations this season.
The Foxes are hoping to add a second FA Cup in three years to their trophy cabinet after lifting the famous trophy for the first time in 2021, beating Chelsea 1-0.
They are hoping to reach the Quarter-Finals for the third time in four seasons, but a high-flying Blackburn side stands in their way with the Lancashire team sitting in fourth place in the Championship.
The six-time FA Cup winners overcame Birmingham City after 210 minutes of football, with their Fourth Round replay heading to extra-time before an Auston Trusty own-goal settled the tie.
Brendan Rodgers’ side have battled their way to the Fifth Round with two awkward away ties at League Two opposition. The Foxes scraped through both games 1-0, with goals from the in-form Kelechi Iheanacho the winner in both matches.
Blackburn have struggled on their travels to the East Midlands, with the Rovers winless in ten games at the King Power Stadium, losing six and drawing four. Their last win in Leicester came in 1991 when Blackburn won 3-1.
The last time these two sides met was in 2014 when a relatively unknown Jamie Vardy was on the scoresheet in a 1-1 draw, whereas this is the first FA Cup meeting in almost 20 years, when a Paul Dickov winner knocked his former club out in 2004.
Team News
Leicester City
Rodgers has suffered an injury blow after it looked like Leicester were nearing a fully fit squad. Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans rolled his ankle in the defeat to Arsenal on Saturday and Rodgers admitted ‘it doesn’t look good’.
On a positive note, Rodgers said that James Maddison has improved after missing the game against Arsenal with a small knee issue and will be assessed ahead of the FA Cup fixture.
Club captain Jonny Evans is also close to a return to the squad but is not expected to play any part against Blackburn.
Blackburn Rovers
The away side have a much busier treatment room, with seven players ruled out of the trip to Leicester. Bradley Dack, Thomas Kaminski, and both Scott and Adam Wharton are among those injured.
As well as this, the Rovers will be without January signing Sorba Thomas as he is cup-tied, and Ben Brereton Diaz as the Chilean is suspended for accumulating too many yellow cards.
Likely line-ups
Leicester City
Iversen; Pereira, Souttar, Faes, Kristiansen; Soumare, Dewsbury-Hall, Praet; Barnes, Iheanacho, Tetê.
Blackburn Rovers
Pears; Rankin-Costello, Carter, Hyam, Brittain; Travis, Buckley; Dolan, Szmodics, Hedges; Gallagher.
Key Players
Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City)
The Nigerian is Mr. FA Cup, he loves this competition. Since his FA Cup debut in January 2016, Iheanacho has scored 17 goals, more than any other player.
The striker has also enjoyed a rich February in terms of goals and assists, putting himself in contention for the player of the month award with two goals and three assists.
Iheanacho is the scorer of both of Leicester’s FA Cup goals this season, and you wouldn’t bet against him extending his total on Tuesday night.
Sam Gallagher (Blackburn Rovers)
With Brereton Diaz and Dack missing, Gallagher will have to step up if Blackburn are to progress into the FA Cup Quarter-Finals for the first time since 2015.
The striker has six goals in the Championship this season, but his performances have fallen into the shadows of Dack and Brereton Diaz who have 18 goals between them this season.
The battle between him and Harry Souttar could be key.
Match Details
Where will the match be played?
The match will be played at the King Power Stadium in Leicester.
What time is the match?
The match will kick off at 7:30pm on Tuesday, February 28, 2023.
How can you watch the match?
In the United Kingdom, the match will be live-streamed on BBC iPlayer for all TV licence holders.
