Walsall vs Leicester Prediction: Foxes to come out on top

Walsall and Leicester City go head-to-head in the Carabao Cup third round on Tuesday (19:45, Sky Sports+) at the Bescot Stadium, over a year after they met here in the FA Cup fourth round. The Foxes were 1-0 winners that day and they will be hoping to be victorious again.

Steve Cooper's side are still winless in the Premier League but they have drawn their last two fixtures. The Saddlers are going well in League 2 as they sit third with five wins from their opening seven matches. Read on for my Walsall vs Leicester prediction, accompanied by match odds and team news.

Walsall vs Leicester Odds

Walsall are 13/2 to win this tie inside regulation time, which gives them a theoretical chance of 13.3%. Leicester are valued at 4/11, giving them an implied probability of 73.3%. The draw is available at 18/5 (21.7%).

The Saddlers are 100/30 to win the tie and the Foxes are priced at 1/5. Both teams to score is on offer at 4/5 and over 2.5 goals can be backed at 4/7.

Walsall striker Nathan Lowe has two goals to his name in the Carabao Cup, and he is priced at 100/30 to score anytime on Tuesday.

Football Odds

Team News 

Saddlers boss Mat Sadler fielded an unchanged XI at the weekend as his side defeated Salford City 2-0 away from home, and he might not feel like he needs to make too many alterations ahead of Tuesday's contest.

After joining the club last week, former Birmingham City youngster Rico Browne was named on the bench at the weekend, and the defender will be hoping he can get a run out in this cup tie. Veteran attacker Albert Adomah could also come into the side having been reduced to cameos in the league so far.

Cooper is likely to make changes to the side that drew with Everton at the weekend, so £25m midfielder Oliver Skipp could come back into the lineup. There is likely to be a shuffle in attack and the likes of Odsonne Edouard, Facundo Buonanotte, Abdul Fatawu and Bobby Decordova-Reid will all be pushing to start this encounter.

Recalls could also be in line for Luke Thomas and Ricardo Pereira, who have both not featured since the Tranmere victory. Veteran striker Jamie Vardy wasn't in the squad for that match, and he is expected to be left out again to prioritise his availability in the league.

Leicester and both teams to score @ 15/8

After blitzing another League 2 side in Tranmere Rovers in the second round, Leicester will be expected to deliver another ruthless attacking performance against the Saddlers. Tranmere were demolished 4-0, but I'm not so sure Walsall will suffer the same fate.

They are at home here and they are yet to taste defeat at the Bescot Stadium in any competition. Already this feels like a tougher task for Leicester than the one they had against Tranmere.

Walsall have already shown that they can handle themselves against higher opposition. They defeated League 1 Huddersfield Town in the second round of the Carabao Cup, and held fellow third tier outfit Birmingham City to a draw in the EFL Trophy, in which they picked up the extra point from the regulatory penalty shoot-out.

They also won their last EFL Trophy outing against Fulham Under-21s, but of course there will be a huge step up again when they take on Leicester's senior squad. Sadler has done an excellent job so far this campaign, but this will be his trickiest fixture to date.

The Foxes have a lot of quality that they can call upon here and there is more than enough to get them through to the next round, but I am expecting the Saddlers to put up a fight. Therefore, I think backing Leicester to win and both teams to score is a sensible selection for this match.

Facundo Buonanotte anytime goalscorer @ 11/5

Buonanotte will be hoping to feature from the off here, and the fans will be feeling the same as they have perceived him to be one of the Foxes' bright sparks so far this season. The Brighton & Hove Albion loanee has one goal and one assist in four league appearances so far but he has only started in two of them.

He did not make the squad for the Tranmere match in the second round of the Carabao Cup, but he will be itching to be selected for this clash, particularly as he has not started a match in a month.

The youngster is an exciting talent whose skill and burst of pace can cause the Saddlers some problems. He has also shown that he can be clinical in the final third, so I think he could be a shrewd selection to get on the scoresheet at the Bescot Stadium.

Offers

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