4-3-3: Leicester City XI vs Stoke: Enzo Maresca hints at changes with big decision to make

Enzo Maresca has again hinted at rotation for Leicester City’s Championship clash with Stoke with fresh legs potentially brought in a bid to make it six leagues win on the bounce.

The City boss had said before the midweek win over Preston that he needed to consider the risk of injuries amid a busy schedule and suggested he would make changes. However, he swapped just one player – Conor Coady for the suspended Jannik Vestergaard.

With City back in action fewer than 72 hours later, rotation could be considered so that some members of the squad avoid starting a third match in seven days. Then again, with a two-week break to follow, Maresca may feel he can get away with keeping his starters in place.

“For the players, we did some rotation in the past,” Maresca said at his press conference on Friday. “We’ll see tomorrow. In the way they work, they deserve all of them to play again.”

There are a few decisions for Maresca to make, the biggest of which is whether to bring Vestergaard back into the fold now he’s available again. The Dane was doing well before his ban, so could take back his place from Coady.

For the final few minutes of the game against Preston, Hamza Choudhury came on to give James Justin a break, with the England international one of two players, along with Ricardo Pereira, to have started all of the previous three games. That could be a consideration for Maresca from the start against Stoke if he feels Justin has been overworked.

Albeit, Maresca doesn’t yet feel Choudhury is a natural there, saying on Friday: “Don’t forget we played with Hamza behind but he’s not a defender. We try to balance a little bit all of the players we have. I don’t think we have a big number, I think we have the right number for the amount of games we’re going to face.”

In midfield, there is the opportunity to bring in Yunus Akgun, Cesare Casadei, or both for Wilfred Ndidi and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, but there is more likely to be changes further forward. It would be a rare sight if Jamie Vardy was to start three games in seven days, so Kelechi Iheanacho could come into the line-up, while there may be an opportunity for Marc Albrighton to make a rare Championship start after his impact off the bench in midweek.

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