Yahoo News Leicester City predicted line-up v Walsall with 10 changes on the cards
Odsonne Edouard is expected to make his first Leicester City start with Steve Cooper able to make 11 changes for Walsall if he desires.
Edouard made his debut on Saturday, replacing Jamie Vardy for the final 10 minutes of the 1-1 draw with Everton. With a quick turnaround for the Carabao Cup tie against the Saddlers, Vardy is unlikely to start, leaving Edouard as the front-runner to lead the line, with Jordan Ayew a potential option too.
Cooper will assess the players’ fitness after the weekend’s Premier League fixture, but it’s likely City have just two players definitely sidelined in Patson Daka and Jakub Stolarczyk, who are both recovering from ankle surgeries in the summer. With everybody else fit, Cooper could change his whole side.
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The manager made eight changes for the last round, a 4-0 win over Tranmere, handing goalkeeper Danny Ward and full-backs Ricardo Pereira and Luke Thomas their first outings of the season. All three could start again at the Poundland Bescot Stadium.
Wout Faes and Caleb Okoli played together at centre-back in the previous round, but with the duo establishing themselves as Cooper’s first-choice Premier League partnership, there’s potential that they will be rested ahead of the trip to Arsenal at the weekend. Conor Coady could make his first start of the season, while Jannik Vestergaard could return to the fold.
Deep in midfield, Harry Winks and Oliver Skipp played together against Tranmere, and the latter could play at Walsall after he watched from the bench against Everton. Winks could get his first rest of the season, with Hamza Choudhury and Boubakary Soumare also available to choose from in the centre of the park.
Out wide, there’s plenty of choice. Kasey McAteer and Stephy Mavididi started against Tranmere, but now the latter is in the Premier League 11, he could be rested. It looks likely to be a choice of two between McAteer, Abdul Fatawu, and Bobby De Cordova-Reid.
In attacking midfield, Wilfred Ndidi played in the last round and dropped into deep midfield against Everton. With Bilal El Khannouss up to speed and Facundo Buonanotte over his groin issue, there’s a choice for Cooper to make. In fact, El Khannouss is perhaps the most likely of the starters against Everton to keep his spot, with Cooper keen to get the Moroccan up to speed with the English game, and with Buonanotte a contender to start against Arsenal.
Because of Ayew’s role in the Premier League team, Edouard will be the favourite to start up front. He was an unused substitute in Crystal Palace’s second-round victory over Norwich and so is not cup-tied for City.
Predicted City line-up (4-2-3-1): Ward; Ricardo, Coady, Vestergaard, Thomas; Choudhury, Skipp; Fatawu, El Khannouss, De Cordova-Reid; Edouard. Subs from: Hermansen, Iversen, Justin, Kristiansen, Faes, Okoli, Ndidi, Soumare, Winks, Buonanotte, Alves, Golding, McAteer, Mavididi, Ayew, Vardy.
