Liverpool vs Leicester City match preview: team news, lineups, TV, kick-off time, prediction

Just three days after the dismantling of West Ham, Liverpool face their third fixture in the space of a week, as they begin their Carabao Cup campaign with a clash against Leicester City.

Just over a month into the 2023/24 season and the fixture list is well and truly packed.

The Reds kicked off their Europa League campaign against LASK last Thursday, before taking on West Ham at the weekend – both games were won 3-1 – and now Jurgen Klopp and co face Leicester City for the first time since they were surprisingly relegated last season.

If that wasn't already enough, the Reds also travel to a high-flying Tottenham side just three days after the cup tie against Leicester, so there is expected to be some heavy rotation mid-week.

Nevertheless, Liverpool have responded brilliantly to every challenge in front of them this season so far, and Klopp will no doubt be hoping that even a second-string lineup should be enough to get past the Championship side.

Here is everything you need to know about the game.

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DATE, KICK-OFF AND STADIUM

• Date: Wednesday, 27th September 2023

• Kick-off time: 19:45 BST / 14:45 ET / 11:45 PT

• Stadium: Anfield

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD

Liverpool and Leicester have faced one another on 121 occasions in history, with the Reds coming out on top in 55 games, drawing 25, and losing 41, which is a lot closer than many might have thought.

Over the past ten fixtures between the clubs however, Liverpool have been by far the better team, winning seven, drawing one and losing two, with the Reds most recent defeat against the now-Championship side coming in December 2021 during a torrid season for Liverpool.

The past three results between the two sides have all been won convincingly by Klopp's side, with an aggregate scoreline of 7-1.

The Reds also put four past the Foxes in a pre-season clash in Singapore only two months ago.

WHERE TO WATCH LIVERPOOL VS LEICESTER ON TV

The one major question mark ahead of the game on Wednesday night is over Trent Alexander-Arnold, and whether the Englishman will have recovered from his hamstring injury in time to play a part in the squad for the first time since being withdrawn prematurely against Aston Villa earlier this month.

The timeline for the defender's absence was originally said to be two weeks. However, the Liverpool's 3-1 win over West Ham at the weekend marked three weeks since he first picked up the injury and Alexander-Arnold failed to make the squad.

Due to the tight turn around between fixtures, it remains unlikely that the 24-year-old will play a part against Leicester, with Klopp likely to give him until at least the weekend's important fixture against Spurs to regain his match fitness.

Meanwhile, Thiago Alcantara is another notable absence and this one is certainly a mystery. At the start of pre-season, it was said that the Spaniard was close to returning, but we are now a month and a half into the competitive season and there is still no sign of the midfielder making his Reds return.

The only other confirmed absentee is young full-back Conor Bradley, who looks like he will unfortunately miss most of the rest of the calendar year.

Once again, this leaves Joe Gomez as the only really viable option to play at right-back, but supporters won't mind because Liverpool's longest serving player has stepped up to the plate in recent weeks and has performed remarkably on the right side of defence.

Youngsters like Ben Doak, Stefan Bajcetic, Jarell Quansah and Bobby Clark could all see some sort of game time on Wednesday in a much-changed lineup, while Caoimhin Kelleher should reprise his role as cup keeper.

Harvey Elliott, who was an unused sub against West Ham, is also likely to take a starring role.

LEICESTER TEAM NEWS

There aren't any first-team injury or suspension concerns from a Leicester City perspective. However, expectedly, their squad was ravished last season due to the club's relegation, with high-profile players such as Harvey Barnes, James Maddison and Youri Tielemans all departing to continue playing in the Premier League.