Manchester City's pursuit for glory in four competitions continues as they travel to the King Power Stadium to face Leicester City in a repeat of last year's Carabao Cup quarterfinals.
The defending champions' pursuit for domestic perfection was abruptly stopped two weeks ago when Chelsea handed the Cityzens their only defeat in the domestic front and the second defeat overall in the entire season. The defeat meant rivals Liverpool have taken a one-point lead in the table for the first time this season.
It has been a season of inconsistency for the Foxes with 6 wins, 4 draws and 7 defeats in the league so far. Their quarterfinal run has also been far from impressive with a victory over Fleetwood town in the opening round being the only match they won without penalties.
Leicester City v Manchester City: Kick-off Information
Date: 18th December 2018
Time: 20:45 (local time), 01:15 (IST)
Venue: King Power Stadium, Leicester
Livestream: JioTV
Leicester City v Manchester City: Team News
Claude Puel is likely to rest key players with a busy December up ahead. Jaime Vardy is likely to sit out after returning from injury in the last match while Ben Chilwell and Johny Evans are likely to miss out.
Puel is expected to give starts to Shinji Okazaki, Christian Fuchs and Danny Simpson.
Pep Guardiola has already confirmed that Kevin De Bruyne will start in the fixture while Aro Muric is expected to start as the goalkeeper. Phil Foden is also expected to make the starting XI.
Benjamin Mendy and David Silva will surely miss out through injuries.
Probable Line-ups
Leicester City: Ward, Simpson, Maguire, Morgan, Fuchs, Iborra, Ndidi; Albrighton, Iheanacho, Gray; Okazaki
Manchester City: Muric, Walker, Stones, Kompany, Zinchenko, Foden, Delph, De Bruyne, Sterling, Jesus, Sane
Leicester City v Manchester City: Form Guide
The last 5 competitive matches
Leicester City: L-L-D-W-W
Manchester City: W-W-L-W-W
Head to Head records
Leicester City: 29 wins
Manchester City: 57 wins
Draw: 29
Predictions
With Liverpool having the midweek off, Pep Guardiola is likely to give rest for key players ahead of the busy December schedule which is likely to give Leicester City a slim chance of a surprise over the defending champions.
Prediction: Leicester City 1-2 Manchester City