Leicester City strong line-up vs Liverpool as seven changes made and Coady to make debut

Conor Coady is set to make his long-awaited Leicester City debut – against the club where his career began.

Coady, a marquee summer signing for City, fractured his foot in pre-season, putting him on the sidelines for two months. Having recovered, he has been on the bench for the past three matches, and is now set to get his first outing in City colours.

The centre-back came through the ranks at Anfield, playing twice before being sold. He’s been back there plenty of times with Wolves, but is now set to make his City debut at his former home.

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“It’s not because it’s his former club, it’s just because after eight or nine weeks out, he needs to come back step by step, slowly,” Maresca said. “Probably tomorrow could be the right game for him.”

Coady is likely to come in for Jannik Vestergaard so that he can be at the heart of City’s defence when it falls into a back three. And that won’t be the only change amid City’s busy schedule, with the trip to Anfield the second of three straight weeks with a midweek fixture.

Maresca said: “For sure we are going to make changes, no doubt. We have more players that we are using. We are going to continue to use them, because they deserve it. We cannot play every game with the same 11. Some players need a rest and to refresh for Sunday’s game against Blackburn.”

Vestergaard is one of four outfield players who started all three wins over Southampton, Norwich, and Bristol City, and with the Dane dropping out for Coady, the other trio are likely to make way as well. City have no choice over Callum Doyle, the defender ruled out with a long-term injury. James Justin is set to take his place, albeit the defence may be reconfigured so that Wout Faes can play on the left of the trio.

The other two who have been ever-present since the international break are Harry Winks and Stephy Mavididi, and they too could be rested. Hamza Choudhury is the likely replacement for Winks, while Kasey McAteer, only a substitute against Bristol City, could come back in on the left wing for Mavididi.

Further changes are likely too, especially up front. Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho have been rotating in the striker role, and it’s the Nigerian’s turn to lead the line. He could be supported on the right by Yunus Akgun, who may get a chance in his preferred position in place of Abdul Fatawu. Cesare Casadei could rotate with Wilfred Ndidi or Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in midfield too, though it’s more likely to be the former.

Then Enzo Maresca must decide if he wants to change goalkeepers too. Jakub Stolarczyk has played the two previous cup games, keeping clean sheets, but against a better opponent in Liverpool, and with the goalkeeper’s footwork set to be key, Mads Hermansen could remain between the sticks.

Predicted City line-up (4-3-3): Hermansen; Justin, Coady, Faes, Ricardo; Choudhury, Casadei, Dewsbury-Hall; Yunus, Iheanacho, McAteer. Subs from: Stolarczyk, Vestergaard, Souttar, Winks, Ndidi, Albrighton, Fatawu, Mavididi, Vardy, Daka.

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