Walsall will entertain Leicester City on home soil for the upcoming third-round tie of the Carabao Cup. After two triumphant wins over higher-league opposition, Walsall may be feeling confident ahead of this clash. But the Foxes, armed with their Premier League squad, could prove too strong for the League Two side.
That said, what markets show the best value for Walsall vs Leicester City, and what are our predictions? It’s all discussed below.
How the bookies view it: Foxes set to advance
The betting odds for the Walsall vs Leicester City Carabao Cup match, untsurprisingly, favour the Foxes. This reflects their Premier League status and historical dominance against Walsall over the years. To be specific, Betano has priced Leicester City at 1/3 to take the win here, while Walsall are priced at 6/1 for the upset.
Head-to-head: A tale of Leicester domination
The historical matchup between Walsall and Leicester City makes for good reading for Foxes fans. In their last five meetings, Leicester City has beaten Walsall four times and drawn against them just once. Leicester has scored at least 2 goals in four of those five games, too.
However, Walsall has been able to find the back of the net in three of their last five meetings. And given their home form this season, this creates an interesting prospect for both teams to score, priced at 31/40 at Betano right now.
Subsequently, if Walsall did manage to score in this encounter, it would put pressure on the Foxes to apply a more attacking style. Based on this possibility and the recent head to head results, it’s also logical to shoot for more than 2.5 goals, priced at 4/7 currently.
Players to watch: Marvellous Mavididi and Allen to make an impact
As Leicester City’s leading goalscorer during the 24/25 season, Mavididi is certainly one to monitor on Tuesday. He netted one of Leicester’s four goals in the previous 4-0 win over Tranmere. And he will no doubt be keen to add to the tally against Walsall.
However, Walsall has their own star man in the form of Taylor Allen. He’s hit home three goals in seven league games, and he kept his nerve to score in the shootout against Birmingham in round two.
Predicted lineups
Walsall could well put out a very similar squad here to the one that helped them move into third at the weekend. Sadler is clearly content with the chosen 11 for that game, as his rotations have been sporadic. As for Leicester City, we expect Ayew and Ndidi to feature again, while Vardy may be left on the bench.
Walsall possible starting lineup:
Hornby; Okagbue, Williams, Browne; Barrett, Maher, Stirk, Lakin, Gordon; Lowe, Adomah
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Ward; Ricardo Pereira, Faes, Okoli, Thomas; Skipp, Winks, Ndidi; Buonanotte, Edouard, Ayew
Anything else catch the eye?
Quite amazingly, this is just the first time in 22 years that Walsall has reached the third round of the Carabao Cup. However, given their flawless record at home in all competitions, Bescot Stadium has quickly become a bit of a fortress. But will that faze Leicester City?
We doubt it, especially since the Foxes have managed to score in every game this season in all competitions.
This EFL Cup match between Walsall and Leicester City will be played on Sep 24, 2024 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Walsall vs Leicester City prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
