Walsall 0-1 Leicester City: Summary
Leicester City have produced back-to-back gritty 1-0 away wins to League Two opposition. The wins against Gillingham and Walsall have not been glamorous, but it is easy to slip up in these games, so Rodgers will be delighted that his side is in the hat for the Fifth Round.
Walsall had moments in the game but struggled to get a foothold in the game. In the second half especially Leicester went up a gear as they looked to win the game.
Leicester await the Fifth Round draw to find out who they will face. The draw will take place on Monday night during the coverage of Derby vs West Ham on ITVX.
Thank you for tuning into my live match coverage of Walsall vs Leicester City today. Stay tuned on VAVEL for more post-match reactions and a full match report.
Goals and highlights: Walsall 0-1 Leicester City
The match in pictures
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Player of the match: Wout Faes
In a game of little creative inspiration, Leicester put in a solid defensive performance and nullified any Walsall attempts to build momentum in the game.
Wout Faes was key in the Leicester backline, and seemed to always be in the right place at the right time.
FT: Walsall 0-1 Leicester
Leicester are into the Fifth Round of the FA Cup courtesy of a lucky deflected strike from Iheanacho.
Walsall 0-1 Leicester
90+3. A late free-kick for Walsall, in a good position. Wilkinson looks for the bottom right corner, but it whistles wide. That should be that for Leicester.
Walsall 0-1 Leicester
90. There will be FOUR minutes of added time.
CHANCE! Walsall 0-1 Leicester
90. Will Leicester rue these missed chances?!
Barnes pulls the ball back to the goalscorer Iheanacho but the Nigerian slashes it well over.
CHANCE! Walsall 0-1 Leicester
88. Another chance for Leicester to put the game to bed!
The debutant Kristiansen picks out the onrushing Dewsbury-Hall, who looks to drag his shot into the far right corner from the left side of the box. But his shot bobbles wide.
Walsall 0-1 Leicester
87. Iversen will breathe a sigh of relief, its a little flicked header towards Iversen and the keeper spills it, but he manages to gather.
CHANCE! Walsall 0-1 Leicester
85. Leicester should have been in the hat for the next round. It's relentless work from Praet who dispossess the Walsall left-back.
The Belgian drives a low cross into the box, and finds Iheanacho unmarked, but his shot his straight at Evans in net.
Anywhere else and it's 2-0!
Walsall 0-1 Leicester
84. Leicester break down the left flank with Dewsbury-Hall, he finds Tielemans, who lays it off for Barnes, but the winger has two attempts blocked.
SUB: Walsall 0-1 Leicester
80. Maddox and Willlmott OFF Allen and Maher ON
SUB: Walsall 0-1 Leicester
74. Comley OFF James-Taylor ON
GOALL!! LEICESTER LEAD!! IHEANACHO!!
68. It's a massive stroke of luck for Leicester! Iheanacho picks the ball up on the edge of the box and fires one off the back of a Walsall defender to score his 16th goal in 22 FA Cup games.
SUB: Walsall 0-0 Leicester
62. Williams and Hutchinson OFF Wilkinson and Songo'o ON
Thomas, Maddison and Daka OFF Iheanacho, Praet and Kristiansen ON
CHANCE! Walsall 0-0 Leicester
55. Tielemans drives one towards the bottom left corner, it's saved well by Evans, but he only palms it into the path of Daka.
The angle is tight for the Zambian and Evans recovers well to deny Daka again.
Walsall 0-0 Leicester
49. Electric start to this second half!
Walsall go up the other end, Williams darts into the box gets on the end of a cross, but whips a volley over the bar.
Walsall 0-0 Leicester
48. PENALTY TO LEICESTER!
After initially awarding a free-kick, the linesman advises the referee to award a penalty.
Tielemans steps up... AND HITS THE POST!
Walsall 0-0 Leicester
46. We are back underway!
HT: Walsall 0-0 Leicester
Walsall started well, with the Saddlers looking to get into Leicester from minute one.
But as the game went on Leicester grew back into the game, and started to control possession.
Daka has looked sharp, but the Zambian hasn't managed to convert any of his chances.
Back in 15!
Walsall 0-0 Leicester
45. TWO minutes of added time.
Walsall 0-0 Leicester
37. Sharp from Daka!
He takes a touch on the edge of the box, turns and fires a volley over.
Five chances for the Zambian now.
Walsall 0-0 Leicester
35. Maddison twists and turns on the edge of the Walsall box, before trying to bend one in the far corner, but he gets it all wrong and his effort is high and wide.
As you would expect the home crowd enjoyed that.
Walsall 0-0 Leicester
30. Daka again amongst the action!
The ball breaks to him in the box and he swivels and shoots but his effort is tame and comfortably saved by Evans.
Walsall 0-0 Leicester
28. Another opportunity for Daka.
The striker's movement is brilliant, and Walsall are struggling to cope with it. Again he gets across his man, he swipes at the first chance, but it drops back to him and he fizzes it across the face of goal, looking for the back post, but it sweeps through the box.
YELLOW! Walsall 0-0 Leicester
27. White is the first Walsall man into the book.
CHANCE! Walsall 0-0 Leicester
24. Good chance for Barnes!
The cross comes in, and after a mix-up in the box, the ball falls to Barnes unmarked at the back post.
The winger tries to slice across the ball on the volley, but he gets it wrong, slices under the ball, and it drops at the keepers feet,
Walsall 0-0 Leicester
21. Maddison has become somewhat of a pantomime villain here, with the England international jeered every time he gets on the ball.
Walsall 0-0 Leicester
19. Daka again gets across his man, and gets on the end of Castagne's cross, but again his header is well wide.
YELLOW! Walsall 0-0 Leicester
17. Maddison is the first player into the book, after protesting with the referee.
Walsall 0-0 Leicester
11. A well-worked corner from Walsall produces a half chance for Knowles, who drags a long range effort towards the bottom corner, but Iversen is down well to palm away.
Walsall 0-0 Leicester
9. Leicester growing into the game.
The Foxes have a good spell of possession , and produce the first chance of the game.
The cross comes in from Castagne on the right flank, he picks out Daka who gets across the front post, but the Zambian's header is well wide.
Walsall 0-0 Leicester
5. Leicester looking to settle down, and get their foot on the ball, after a chaotic opening five minutes.
Walsall 0-0 Leicester
2. Shaky start from Leicester!
Walsall have got straight into Leicester early on.
Penalty claims from Walsall waved away.
Walsall 0-0 Leicester
1. We are underway!
Leicester kicking from right to left.
Here come the teams!
Gavin Ward leads the teams out ahead of this FA Cup tie.
Kick-off is moments away!
15 minutes to kick-off!
Kristiansen is in the squad!
Leicester's new signing is in the matchday squad for the first time today, after signing from Copenhagen last week.
VK checking in 📍#WLSLEI pic.twitter.com/GsJVbshgPr
— Leicester City (@LCFC) January 28, 2023
Leicester team news!
How we're lining up in the #EmiratesFACup👊#WLSLEI 🔵 pic.twitter.com/kO1Dozi6Az — Leicester City (@LCFC) January 28, 2023
Walsall team news!
📋𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦📋
Here is how we line-up this afternoon against @LCFC in the @EmiratesFACup! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/ndlLlXUYjN — Walsall FC Official (@WFCOfficial) January 28, 2023
It's Matchday!!
Good evening and welcome to VAVEL's match coverage of Walsall vs Leicester City in the FA Cup.
With a place in the first round up for grabs, will we see Leicester cruise into the next round, or can Walsall produce an upset? Team news to come...
Tune in here for Walsall vs Leicester City
I will be back here at 11:15AM UK time, ahead of team news at 11:30AM, ready to bring you all the action from the FA Cup match between Walsall and Leicester City.
Do not miss a detail of the match Walsall vs Leicester City live updates and commentaries of VAVEL.
What time does the game kick-off around the world?
India: 6pm IST.
South Africa: 2:30pm SAST.
Australia: 10:30pm AEST.
Japan: 9:30pm JST.
USA: 7:30am ET.
What time does the game kick-off?
The game kicks off at 12:30pm UK time and will be live on BBC iPlayer.
Walsall vs Leicester City prediction
Walsall are bang in-form and will be up for this cup tie on Saturday. The home crowd will give Walsall an advantage, but the Saddlers will have to be at their very best.
Leicester will come in as favourites, but Rodgers expects a difficult game. The Foxes should have too much quality for Walsall and should progress comfortably into the next round.
Walsall 0-2 Leicester City
Recent games between Walsall and Leicester
Fixtures between these two do not come around often with the last game more than a decade ago in 2009.
You have to go even further back to the 1970s to find the last time Walsall beat Leicester. It was in the FA Cup and spookily on the 28th January. A lucky omen if you are Walsall fan.
Leicester have won five of the last six meetings, with the last a 4-1 win when the Foxes were in League One.
Key player for Leicester
Kelechi Iheanacho loves playing in the FA Cup scoring 15 goals in 21 games in the competition, with the striker instrumental in helping Leicester loft their first FA Cup in 2021.
First-team opportunities have been few and far between for the Nigerian this season, but when given minutes he performs well.
Key player for Walsall
Liam Kinsella came through the academy at Walsall and will be key to nullifying Leicester.
Leicester will look to get their midfield players on the ball and try to dictate play, so it is important that their midfield work hard to disrupt play and stop Leicester getting into their groove.
Probable lineups for Leicester
Iversen; Castagne, Vestergaard, Amartey, Kristiansen; Perez, Mendy, Tielemans, Barnes; Daka, Iheanacho.
Probable lineups for Walsall
Evans; Daniels, McEntree, White; Gordon, Knowles, Kinsella, Songo'o, Hutchinson; Williams, Wilkinson.
Who is the referee and his assistants?
The referee for Walsall vs Leicester City will be Gavin Ward. The linesmen will be Bhupinder Singh Gill and Jonathan Hunt, with Geoff Eltringham as the fourth official.
VAR will not be in operation at the match.
Leicester: The Foxes' only route into Europe this season?
Leicester City have spent the last couple of seasons globetrotting across Europe, with Leicester qualifying for the Europa League in 2020 and 2021. But this season they are without European football and look set to miss out on qualification through the league this season, with the club sitting closer to the bottom three.
The FA Cup gives a European spot to the winner, which could give Leicester the opportunity to grab a European place in a disappointing season.
Walsall: Can Michael Flynn recreate history and shock Leicester?
Michael Flynn has a history with Leicester in the FA Cup, with his Newport County side knocking the foxes out of the competition back in 2019 when Claude Puel was the manager.
That day his side scored a late winner to produce one of the shocks of the season. Saddlers fans will be hoping that he can replicate that on Saturday and steer them into the Fifth Round.
The match will be played at the Poundland Bescot Stadium
The Walsall vs Leicester City match will be played at the Bescot Stadium in Walsall, with a capacity of 11,300 people.
Welcome to VAVEL.com's coverage of the 2023 FA Cup match: Walsall vs Leicester City Live Updates!
My name is Jayden Whitworth and I'll be your host for this game. We will provide you with pre-game analysis, score updates, and news as it happens live here on VAVEL.
It's a battle of the Midlands. East vs West. The prize is a place in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup.