Following back-to-back victories against Charlton and Birmingham City, Leicester City return to action with a trip down south to Oxford. After some important business on transfer deadline day, and a strong start to the season, City’s fortunes look on the up. Therefore, with the new additions and the international break out of the way, here is the Leicester City Predicted Lineup as they visit the Kassam Stadium.
Leicester City Predicted Lineup vs Oxford United for Championship Clash
How Leicester City Have Lined Up Recently
Over the past few weeks, Marti Cifuentes has made several changes as he looks to find results. Despite a poor performance against Preston, Jakub Stolarczyk looked to move past his mistakes as he kept back-to-back clean sheets against both Charlton and Birmingham. The centre-back partnership of Caleb Okoli and Jannik Vestergaard has been ever-present so far this season, with Cifuentes describing them as providing a “good balance”. Rounding off the backline, academy graduates Luke Thomas and Hamza Choudhury continued their run of starts.
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Boubakary Soumaré, alongside Oliver Skipp, has been the preferred double pivot recently as Harry Winks drops out. Questions over Bilal El Khannouss took up most of City’s time during the transfer window, and the concerns subsequently led to 17-year-old Louis Page coming into the squad. Out wide, deadly duo Abdul Fatawu and Stephy Mavididi returned to action against Birmingham City, as they look to reignite the form of two years ago. Meanwhile, Jordan Ayew remained up top as fellow striker Patson Daka joined him during the second half against Blues.
Leicester City’s Recent Form And Tactics
The first five fixtures of the Cifuentes era haven’t been perfect, but the most recent performance against Birmingham City was incredibly encouraging. Coming into the game, Chris Davies’ side were in great form, having picked up seven points from a possible nine in the league. In addition to this, their performance against the recently relegated Ipswich Town was strong, as a late penalty denied them a perfect start.
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In contrast, the Foxes’ start wasn’t super positive as underwhelming performances came in all three games. Despite this, they still picked up two wins and have shown that their quality players can change a game in an instant. As a result, in the last match, it was Cifuentes’ side that came out victorious due to their strong game plan and individual brilliance.
Early on, it was once again Fatawu who gave his side the lead through a top-draw finish on his left foot. For much of the rest of the game, City were willing to relinquish possession and frustrate the visitors by using their 4-4-2 mid-block. Birmingham really struggled to create chances, and a major factor for this was how narrow both Leicester wingers were, which meant they couldn’t get the double pivot on the ball, where they can dictate. In addition, playing deeper also suited the likes of Skipp, Vestergaard and Thomas, as the trio all struggled in previous games.
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Consequently, Davies’ side had just one shot on target and didn’t offer a substantial threat going forward. Eventually, it was the Foxes who found the late goal as Ricardo Pereira doubled the lead and provided a well-deserved victory.
