How Leicester City might prepare for their first Championship midweek matchup of the season on Wednesday against fourth-placed Norwich at Carrow Road.
In an effort to manage the upcoming stressful few weeks, Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca has hinted at lineup changes for their Championship match at Norwich.
As the first of three straight midweek games for City, the contest at Carrow Road is also the first of six games in 18 days leading up to the October international break. Maresca will change roles to cope.
“It’s a game every three days,” Maresca said at his press conference on Tuesday. “We need to manage this situation and try to share minutes and use as many players as we can. This was already the reason why we made changes the other day (at Southampton). We’ll see tomorrow if we make more changes.
“Probably the only thing I can say is, and I already told them, that when you want to reach something important, you need 20 players. For some reasons, some of them will not play tomorrow and did not play the other day, but the season is so long that for sure we’re going to use them.
“The clear example is JJ (James Justin). Before he played just in cup games. The other day he was unbelievable. He was ready. The same thing is for the rest, they have to train well because we will need them.”
In spite of the praise for Justin he is a player at risk of dropping out of the side. Wout Faes, who returned late from international duty and so remained an unused substitute at Southampton, could come back into the frame, taking back his spot from Justin.
However, there is also a possibility that Faes comes into the team for Doyle, with Justin keeping his place. While Maresca is a big fan of Doyle, and has stressed the need for the rest of the team to pass the ball like he does, the Manchester City loanee is the only player in the squad to have played every minute so far, and having also represented England Under-21s over the international break, he may be due a rest.
There may also be a change up front. Jamie Vardy came into the team and scored after 20 seconds at Southampton, but Kelechi Iheanacho could start up front at Carrow Road with the number nine rarely starting two games in a week now he’s 36.
If Conor Coady is to make his debut, it seems unlikely it will be from the start, with the centre-back needing to be eased in following a long lay-off. Jannik Vestergaard may therefore continue in the side. And while Maresca has plenty of options out wide, his admission that Yunus Akgun and Abdul Fatawu are still looking to reach 100 per cent fitness means Stephy Mavididi and Kasey McAteer could keep their spots.
In midfield, Harry Winks and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall are likely to keep their places, but Cesare Casadei will push for his first Championship start in place of Wilfred Ndidi. It’s a toss-up between the two, which Ndidi may shade for now after his goal at Southampton.
Predicted City line-up (4-1-4-1): Hermansen; Ricardo, Faes, Vestergaard, Doyle; Winks; McAteer, Ndidi, Dewsbury-Hall, Mavididi; Iheanacho. Subs from: Stolarczyk, Ward, Iversen, Justin, Coady, Souttar, Nelson, Choudhury, Casadei, Albrighton, Yunus, Fatawu, Marcal, Vardy, Daka.
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