Following their impressive 4-0 win against Stoke City in the Third Round of the FA Cup two weeks ago, Leicester City make the trip down the M1 to the capital to face Brentford in Round Four of the prestigious competition.

The Foxes currently sit in third place in the Premier League table, in the middle of what is the tightest title race in history. Brentford on the other hand sit fourth in the Championship looking to build on their play-off final defeat to Fulham at the end of last season.

The Bees beat fellow Championship side Middlesbrough 2-1 to reach the fourth round and will be hopeful of getting revenge over the Foxes who knocked them out of the competition at this stage last year thanks to a Kelechi Iheanacho goal.

Team News

Brendan Rodgers has confirmed that striker Jamie Vardy will be out for the next couple of weeks as the 34-year-old striker has a minor hernia operation. Either Iheanacho or Ayoze Perez are expected to replace Vardy.

The Foxes will also be without Captain Wes Morgan and midfielder Dennis Praet who are both recovering from respective injuries.

Thomas Frank will be not be able to call on his key striker Ivan Toney who is facing a suspension following his stoppage time red card against Luton Town on Wednesday.

He will also be without Josh Dasilva who received a red card against Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup semi-final at the beginning of January.

Leicester XI: Schmeichel; Ricardo, Soyuncu, Evans, Justin; Ndidi, Tielemans; Under, Perez, Barnes; Iheanacho.

Brentford XI: Raya, Dalsgaard, Pinnock, Sorensen, Henry; Ghoddos, Janelt, Jensen; Mbeumo, Forss.

Last Meeting

The two teams last met at this stage of the competition last season, at Brentford’s old ground Griffin Park.

The Bees moved into their new stadium, the Brentford Community Stadium in the summer and the fixture turned out to be the last FA Cup game to be held there as the Foxes came out 1-0 winners thanks to a goal from Iheanacho.

The away side got off to a flying start and could have had the game won in the first 15 minutes.

They took the lead in the fourth minute when, Dennis Praet played a lovely through ball from just inside the Brentford half over to James Justin, who then played a lovely cross into the box where Iheanacho was there to fire home.

Ayoze Perez, Hamza Choudhury and Demarai Gray all had good chances to increase their lead but couldn’t find a way past goalkeeper Luke Daniels.

The Foxes ended up going out of the FA Cup to Chelsea in a 1-0 defeat in the quarter-finals.

Ones to Watch

Kelechi Iheanacho

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Since joining the Foxes in 2017, it’s safe to say the Nigerian international hasn’t quite lived up to the hype he had when moving to the East Midlands from Manchester City.

With Vardy set for a spell on the side-lines, you have to feel as if this is the 24-year-old's last chance to prove himself as Vardy’s long-term replacement.

This is the perfect chance for Iheanacho to get himself some confidence and most importantly a goal.

He hasn’t scored since the beginning of November in the UEFA Europa League game against Braga and has since struggled for game time since. If there was a team for Iheanacho to really show the potential he displayed in Manchester, then this is certainly the time to do it.

Bryan Mbeumo

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The French U21 International was a key part of the attacking front three alongside Ollie Watkins and Saïd Benrahma that fired Brentford to the play-off final last season.

Whilst the other two left in the summer for Premier League clubs, Mbeumo stayed loyal to the London club despite interest.

This season he has been just as key to Brentford’s play as they challenge to reach the topflight, contributing with a number of goals and assists. The tricky winger could be key to unlocking Leicester’s strong defence, with his pace and skill, he could be the key man for Brentford.

Pre-Match Thoughts

Speaking to the media Brendan Rodgers spoke highly of the opposition and the fun he had analysing them.

He said: “I’ve enjoyed analysing how they’ve worked. We maybe don’t see them so much because we’re analysing our [Premier League] opposition, but they play fantastic football. They have a real trust in their game and how they play. They play their game from behind. Their positioning on the field is very, very good and they look to get numbers into the box to score goals.”

Thomas Frank also spoke highly of Brendan Rodgers side and how he looked forward to the challenge of facing the Premier League side in the competition once again.

He said: “We’re looking forward to the challenge against the team with Brendan Rodgers and his coaching staff who have done fantastic over the last two seasons. They’re doing another good job again this season, so it’ll be another interesting game. We saw last season that we could actually compete with Leicester so I’m sure we can do that on Sunday again, and we’ll give it a go.”

How to Watch:

The game is available on to watch on BT Sport 1 from 2pm whilst there live updates on the Leicester VAVEL Twitter page.

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