Cheltenham vs Leicester Prediction: Will Foxes escape unharmed?

League 2 Cheltenham Town will be hoping to cause a shock in the Third Round of the FA Cup as they host Championship outfit Leicester City on Saturday (12:15, TNT Sports 7). 

The Foxes won this competition in 2020/21 but have since fallen from grace, and manager Marti Cifuentes is struggling to lead a promotion charge, as they sit 12th in the second tier. Below you can find my Cheltenham vs Leicester predictions.

Team News

Cheltenham Town begin life without forward Hakeeb Adelakun, as the former Salford man earned himself a move to Doncaster Rovers this week. He scored against Crawley from the bench at the weekend, while there is more pain for the hosts as midfielder Isaac Hutchinson has been recalled by Bristol City.

George Harmon or Liam Kinsella are set to come into the middle of the park as a result, while Jake Bickerstaff is set to lead the attack after he made his loan from Wrexham permanent on Thursday. 

Leicester boss Cifuentes has to get the balance right with his team selection, but is set to make a few changes after a tough festive period. Patson Daka should come into the attack, while Silko Thomas and Luke Thomas are pushing for starts. 

Jannik Vestegaard and Asmir Begovic should bring more experience into this Foxes team but Julian Carranza has had his Leicester loan ended and joined Club Nexaca in Mexico.

Football Odds

Today's Football Fixtures

Cheltenham vs Leicester Odds 

Cheltenham are 9/2 to win this game while Leicester are the heavy favourites at 3/5. That gives the visitors a win probability of 63%, while a draw after 90 minutes is 11/4. 

Over 2.5 goals is 8/11, BTTS is 4/5 and Daka is the favourite to open the scoring at 9/2.

BTTS @ 4/5

I was pretty happy to back the underdogs earlier in the week, but my confidence is waning given the transfer news at the start of this month. Adelakun is a notable loss but losing Hutchinson as well is a big blow for Steve Cotterill. 

Instead of picking them to cause a shock, I will back both teams to score to kick us off. Cheltenham have seen both teams score in four of their last six games, while BTTS has come in during the last nine Leicester outings. We should get a classic cup tie on Saturday lunchtime. 

Leicester to win from behind @ 15/2

I do think Leicester could concede first in this game and although I don’t fancy them in the second tier this term, they should be able to win this cup tie. I think Leicester’s bench will be packed with top talent and if Abdul Fatawu is called upon, it may well be game over for the Robins.

It means I fancy the odds on Leicester to win this game from behind, as that talent left over from the Premier League should come on to save the day - if needed.

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