Leicester City vs Derby County - Competition: English FA Cup
Leicester City team are completely unrecognisable from the team that won the EPL last term. The Foxes have lost 3-0 in three of their last five matches in all competition, with the only non defeat being a 2-2 draw at Pride Park in the original match of this FA Cup tie. Furthermore, they have only scored one goal in their last seven league matches. In the previous East Midlands derbies, Leicester have won three of the last four meetings and five of the last 10, losing just once.
Claudio Ranieri has revealed he will make changes to the side as he looks to bring fresh legs in ahead of a big run of games in their bid to beat the drop. The Italian manager could be without Islam Slimani and Leonardo Ulloa with the latter unlikely to play anyway after falling out with the club. Midfielder Daniel Amartey is available after returning from the AFCON duty. New signing Molla Wagué played 90 minutes for the club’s Development Squad on Monday evening, but is ineligible for this competition.
Derby County team enter this match on the back of a 1-0 narrow defeat to Newcastle at the weekend. Prior to that they recorded a convincing 3-0 win over Ipswich Town courtesy of strikes from Tom Ince, Darren Bent and Craig Bryson. They are 8th in the English Championship table, 3 points outside the top six. The Rams' away form is hit-and-miss and also their recent trips to face fellow promotion hopefuls Leeds and Norwich City have ended in defeat. Furthermore, they have lost each of their last five away games against Leicester.
Manager Steve McLaren has a depleted squad and will have to reshuffle his pack. Craig Bryson is a major doubt while midfielder Will Hughes will be a big absences for the Rams as he has recently joined Max Lowe, James Wilson, Craig Forsyth and George Thorne on the sidelines. Striker David Nugent could feature after he injured his knee during on debut against Leeds United in January.
Date: 8 February 2017
Kick-off Time: 19:45 GMT
Venue: King Power Stadium, Leicester