Two former champions and cup winners among themselves

There have been four different champions in the past eight Premier League seasons. Two of them will face each other in a direct duel in the third round of the League Cup on Wednesday evening. The fact that it is nevertheless a clash between a first and a second division club underlines the sad development Leicester have taken to date after the sensational triumph in 2016.

Although the Foxes’ priority this season is of course to win promotion back to the top flight, there is now a welcome chance at Anfield to test themselves against an absolute top team and see where there are currently deficits. Both teams are not lacking in self-confidence, which is why the bet on a relatively high number of goals in normal time in the match between Liverpool and Leicester could well work out.

Specially on Wednesday evening, we can look forward to further exciting matches in the less important cup competition on the island. Among others, there is the top match Newcastle vs. Manchester City. The duels between Chelsea and Brighton or Brentford and Arsenal also promise to be interesting.

Liverpool – Statistics & current form

When Hansi Flick was relieved of his duties as national coach a few weeks ago, around 80 million Germans would have loved to personally pick up Jürgen Klopp from Liverpool with a wheelbarrow to present him as his successor for the 2024 European Championship at home. But because the last Dortmund master coach is a loyal man of principle, he referred to his existing contract in the Beatles city and also argued that he was currently building “Liverpool 2.0” and was therefore not available.

The rebuilding process at the Reds, which is still in full swing with a view to the many new arrivals, especially in the centre of midfield, can be assessed very positively so far. LFC have played seven competitive games this season and have won six of them. Only in the opening game at Chelsea FC did the Klopp team have to settle for a draw. However, this also means that the most recent six games in the league and in the Europa League have all been victorious.

Liverpool and the new favourite result!

So far, the strong output of the offence is certainly worthy of special mention, scoring at least twice in six of the aforementioned seven competitive matches and even managing to score three or more goals in five of them. Consequently, the over 2.5 would have gone through six times. In four matches, a bet on the over 3.5 would have paid off.

By the way, all four matches of this kind ended with 3:1, including the most recent three matches in Wolverhampton, at LASK and at the weekend at home against West Ham United. If you want to bet on the Reds to produce their “standard result” again and win the first cup match of the new season 3-1, you can get odds of 10.50 at the top on the corresponding result tip at Oddset between Liverpool and Leicester.

A high-scoring match definitely doesn’t seem out of the question, especially as Jürgen Klopp will most likely rotate with an eye on the upcoming tasks at Tottenham and at home in the Europa League against Royale Union SG. Four or more goals in the course of the match therefore seem just as conceivable as at least two goals in the first 45 minutes.

Expected Liverpool line-up:
Kelleher; Bajcetic, Konate, Quansah, Tsimikas; Elliott, Endo, Gravenberch; Doak, Gakpo, Jota

Leicester – Statistics & current form

For Leicester City, last season’s relegation from the Premier League, which was certainly avoidable on balance, was a heavy blow. Less than ten years after the Foxes caused one of the biggest sensations in world football this millennium by winning the league title in 2016 and were also able to compete with the best teams in Europe at Champions League level, their weekly opponents are now Plymouth Argyle, Sheffield Wednesday or Rotherham United.

It was therefore all the more important for those in charge to get off to a good start in the Championship in 2023/24 and immediately underpin their own ambitions. The fact is that the only thing that counts this season is a return to the Premier League. Everything is to be subordinated to this obviously communicated goal, including the two cup competitions, in which the Blues have felt quite comfortable in the recent past.

Leicester feel particularly comfortable in the cup

2021 the Foxes won the FA Cup, for example. In the Carabao Cup, the players from the English East Midlands have reached at least the quarter-finals in six of the last seven years (!). In the previous year, they lost out to Newcastle in the last eight, and one season earlier the Foxes were beaten on penalties by LFC. In view of this remarkable cup tradition, we deliberately refrain from predicting the outcome of the match between Liverpool and Leicester.

However, this is partly due to the fact that the team of the new Italian head coach Enzo Maresca goes into this match at Anfield Road with a lot of momentum and a swollen chest.

The former first division club has won seven of its first eight league games in the Championship. Away from home, the highly rated teams from Southampton (4:1) and Norwich (2:0) were brought to their knees. First place in the intermediate rankings is the logical and deserved consequence of a good start to the season, which was not necessarily to be expected in this form due to various notable departures. We therefore do not expect an exclusively defensive guest, which in the duel Liverpool against Leicester once again brings the odds on many goals to the fore.

Predicted Leicester line-up:
Stolarczyk; Pereira, Faes, Vestergaard, Justin; Casadei, Ndidi, Winks; Akgun, Iheanacho, Mavididi

Liverpool – Leicester Direct Comparison / H2H Balance

For the Foxes, there has rarely been anything worth counting at Anfield Road in the recent past. In the Premier League, for example, the Reds have won ten of their last twelve home games against Leicester (two draws). In pre-season, LFC prevailed 2-1 at home and 3-0 away against the 2016 champions. It is also interesting to look at the cup statistics, which Liverpool also lead with five wins, five draws and three defeats. Liverpool won their last cup tie in 2021/22 in the EFL Cup quarter-finals at home on penalties.

Liverpool – Leicester Tip

32 teams are still in the mix for the third round of the EFL Cup, with England’s eight European Cup representatives each playing their first matches on Tuesday/Wednesday. Among them is Liverpool Football Club, who last crowned themselves in this competition in 2022 and will be looking to progress in the League Cup after a good start to the season with six wins in seven competitive matches.

In Liverpool’s home game against Leicester, the betting odds leave no question as to who will go into this match as favourites. Anything other than a commanding success for the Reds would definitely be a big surprise, especially as both teams are now active in different divisions. LFC are in second place in the Premier League, while the Foxes lead the standings in the Championship.

But since the sensational 2016 champions also arrive in strong form and have nothing to lose as “David” against “Goliath”, we will not place a win bet in favour of Klopp’s team and instead aim for a bet on Liverpool against Leicester that at least two goals will be scored in the first half. With a view to the offensive statistics of both teams, we expect an open encounter and thus also a few goals.