Despite dominating the match, Newcastle fell to a shock defeat away at Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup and now they’ll be keen to put that right by clinching their spot in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup.
Leicester are yet to draw away from home this season but it’s not necessarily been to their benefit having lost six of their nine road matches in the Premier League. This cup match could be a welcomed distraction but can they handle a Newcastle side looking to bounce back from defeat at the first time of asking?
Eddie Howe will have been extremely disappointed to lose at Hillsborough in their last outing. His side went 2-0 down but still dominated the match and created enough clear cut opportunities to at least bring the scoreline level. Perhaps it can be put down to rustiness as striker Alexander Isak returned from injury and looked lively.
But ultimately, they lost the match and they need to dust themselves down and regroup when they welcome Leicester to St. James’ Park for this quarter-final clash. A return to home soil will be welcomed given they’re one of just two sides yet to suffer a Premier League defeat on home soil in this campaign.
The Foxes narrowly beat Gillingham last time out and it extended their exceptional run of scoring on the road, successfully hitting the back of the net in all of their 12 away games across all competitions.
The issue Brendan Rodgers has is being competitive against the top sides. It’s all well and good beating the likes of Everton, Wolves and West Ham, who are all trying to deal with their own problems, but it’s against the best sides where they seem to crumble.
They have successfully scored in all of their three away league matches against sides in the top six but have lost all of them and we could see that theme continue here.
It would be a remarkable surprise if Newcastle, given their current form at home, suffered back-to-back defeats and it looks unlikely that Leicester will leave here with a victory. However, they can make it competitive and given their scoring rate, both teams to score looks a good option at 10/11.
However, Newcastle need to be winning here and qualifying for the semi-final would be an excellent way to mark their progression. As such, a small play on a NEWCASTLE WIN AND BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE at 5/2 looks a solid pick.
Score prediction: Newcastle 3-1 Leicester ()
Odds correct 1530 GMT (09/01/23)
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