Wigan unlikely to trouble Leicester

Leicester City vs Wigan Athletic - 04/01/2020

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Top-flight high-fliers Leicester City host Championship strugglers Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

Leicester are second in the Premier League standings, while Wigan currently find themselves just inside the relegation zone in the second-tier.

Following back-to-back defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool, the Foxes have recently got back on track with consecutive victories over West Ham and Newcastle.

Brendan Rodgers’ side completely dominated the Magpies in their previous game. Despite the manager fielding another heavily changed starting eleven, Leicester claimed a comfortable 3-0 win.

Only Liverpool have a better defensive record than the Foxes in England’s top-flight, and they look well on course to secure European football for next season.

By contrast, Wigan have only managed to pick up 23 points from 26 games this term. With just five league wins in 2019/20, the Latics are in danger of dropping down into the third-tier.

However, after suffering one defeat in their last six games, Wigan have picked up some decent results in recent weeks. Still, four draws in that time have seen Paul Cook’s side fail to finish off their opposition.

To make matters worse, Wigan haven’t won an away game in the FA Cup since 2014. They’ve played six away ties in this competition since then, drawing two and losing four.

This will be the first-ever FA Cup meeting between Leicester and Wigan. The two teams last faced each other in the Championship in 2014 (a 2-2 draw at the King Power Stadium).

Having said that, the two clubs have been moving in opposite directions since then, and Leicester come into this clash as firm favourites.

After missing Leicester’s previous two games, in-form striker Jamie Vardy could return to the starting line-up this weekend.

The former England striker has netted 17 league goals this season – four more than his nearest Golden Boot challengers Danny Ings and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Aside from long-term absentee Matty James, Rodgers has a fully fit squad, so we could see plenty of fresh faces in Leicester’s starting eleven.

Wigan boss Paul Cook is likely to more concerned about his team’s poor league form, rather than a run in the FA Cup.

For that reason, we could see Wigan field a weakened side in order to keep important players fit for upcoming league games.

The gulf between Leicester and Wigan has never been bigger, so the Premier League side are expected to secure their place in the fourth round with a comfortable win.

Forebet predicts that Leicester will keep a clean sheet on their way to victory.

Home team
Away team

Probability %

1X2

Pred

Correct score

Avg. goals

Weather conditions

Coef.

Score

Live
coef.

FA

Leicester City Wigan Athletic 04/01/2020 18:31

562024

1

2 - 0

1.69

4°

1.25

1.25 6.00 10.06 1 -1 -1

FT

2 - 0(2 - 0)

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