After their 0-0 stalemate in Prague last week, Leicester City host Slavia Prague in the second leg of their UEFA Europa League Round of 32 tie at the King Power Stadium.
Whilst the scoreline suggests otherwise, it was an exciting first leg in the Czech capital with both sides creating numerous chances.
Leicester will be frustrated they didn’t get that all-important away goal going into this one, but being back on their own pitch which will arguably be in a lot better condition than the one in Prague, they will be confident of progressing into the next round.
The Foxes come into the game on the back of their 2-1 win away to Aston Villa at the weekend. An impressive shot from James Maddison just outside the Villa box and a rebounded effort from Harvey Barnes put the away side 2-0 up at half time.
Despite an early second-half goal from Bertrand Traore and heavy Villa pressure towards the latter stages of the game, the Foxes stood tall which saw them cement their place in the Premier League’s top four.
Slavia visit the East Midlands on the back of a 3-0 win over seventh-placed FK Pardubice. The win was Slavia’s 16th of their domestic season in 20 games whilst drawing the other four. They are now walking away with the league eight points ahead of second-place and city rivals Sparta Prague.
Team News
Brendan Rodgers has confirmed that English midfielder James Maddison will miss the second leg due to a possible reoccurrence of a hip injury he had surgery on towards the end of last season which kept him out for the first few games of this season.
The England international limped off the pitch holding his hip during the win over Villa and is currently receiving advice from a specialist alongside club doctor Bryan English.
Kelechi Iheanacho will miss the second leg after accumulating too many yellow cards in the Europa League after receiving his third yellow of the campaign in the first leg.
James Justin (ACL), Wesley Fofana (Thigh Muscle Strain), Wes Morgan (back injury), Dennis Praet (Hamstring) and Ayoze Perez (knee) are the only other long term injuries to Brendan Rodgers squad.
Slavia will be without midfielder Tomas Holes for the second leg, after he suffered an injury during the first leg which resulted in him being substituted.
They will be without Stanislav Tecl and Petr Sevcik who are both recovering from Covid-19 and are currently self-isolating.
Dennis Visinsky could play a part in the game after he completed a game for Slavia’s B team after recovering from injury.
Leicester City XI: Schmeichel; Castagne, Evans, Soyuncu, Thomas; Ndidi, Tielemans, Albrighton, Under, Barnes; Vardy.
Slavia Prague XI: Kolar; Bah, Kudela, Zima, Boril; Provod, Hromada; Sima, Stanciu, Olayinka; Kuchta.
Last Meeting
The first leg between the two sides which took place last week was the first-ever meeting between the two sides and it probably won’t go down as the most exciting first meeting in footballing history.
The Foxes started off brightly and almost went 1-0 up within the first minute when Marc Albrighton drove a shot just wide of the post.
Harvey Barnes fired a shot into the side netting following a free-kick from Maddison. Barnes was left unmarked and should probably have hit the target which would have most probably resulted in a goal.
The home side dominated the second half and Leicester weren’t at their best by a long shot. They were sloppy in possession and almost conceded when Romanian International Nicolae Stanciu forced a smart save from Kasper Schmeichel after striking the ball beautifully just outside the box.
Overall, a draw was most probably deserved. Slavia will be happy not to have conceded an away goal whilst Leicester will be happy to go back to the King Power with the score still level.
The second leg is set up to be an exciting tie, with both teams not wanting to go to extra time they are both most likely to attack which will mean one thing - goals.
Ones to watch
Barnes' goal against Villa on Sunday took his tally for the season to 13 in all competitions, and with England manager, Gareth Southgate in attendance, which he has done at Leicester games quite frequently over the last few weeks, shows that the 23-year-old has his attention.
If he carries on in this vein of form, then there is no way he can be left out of the England squad for the Euros in the summer.
Over the summer, Barnes worked tirelessly on adding goals to his game alongside his blistering pace and strength. The hard work has quite evidently paid off. He already has nine Premier League goals to his name in 24 appearances, compared to last season when he only managed six in 36 appearances.
Barnes has gone on to become one of the country’s most exciting prospects and the Foxes will need their academy graduate to carry on his good form if they’re to progress into the next round of the competition.
Abdallah Sima
Having signed from French side Thonon Evian in the summer, the 19-year-old Senegalese forward has hit the ground running in Prague.
Scoring 14 goals in all competitions including three of Slavia’s 11 in the Europa League, Sima is unsurprisingly the club’s top goal scorer and biggest threat to Leicester.
Despite being in Prague for only half a season, Sima’s impressive form has already earned him links to a number of Premier League clubs, with Arsenal and West Ham United reportedly interested in signing the striker in the summer.
If Slavia’s star man can get in behind Leicester’s defence at any point, it could give the visitors a good platform to go on and win this tie.
Pre Match Thoughts
Brendan Rodgers has said he wants to help build the clubs history. Talking before the game he said: "From a personal perspective, my focus is on what we want to do as a football club.
"I want to help the club build its history, but I don’t think about my team's success in a personal way.”
Youri Tielemans spoke about how he believes he can achieve his career ambitions at Leicester City. He said: "This club has the best environment that you can have.
"It’s brilliant to be here. It’s a perfect environment to win trophies. You can’t predict the future, but everything around the club is set up for it."
How to watch:
The game is available to watch on BT Sport ESPN with coverage starting at 7:30pm for an 8:00pm kick-off time.
Alternatively, you can keep up to date with live text updates on the VAVEL website and Leicester VAVEL Twitter page.