Leicester City vs Birmingham City 05/03/20

5 March 2020

Leicester City will entertain Birmingham City at the King Power Stadium in the FA Cup round of 16 this midweek, hoping to find a way out of a crisis.

Rocked by a dismal 1-0 away loss to Norwich City, the hosts will look to regain confidence when they take on a side they’ve not lost to in five of their last competitive H2Hs (W3, D2). But, Brendan Rodgers’ men are going through a challenging period, having failed to pick up a single win in five of their previous matches in all competitions (D2, L3), drawing a blank in the last three. What’s more, the Foxes have managed just two triumphs in their past eight home outings (D3, L3), keeping a clean sheet only once across those fixtures. Particularly ponderous in defense after the break, they have shipped 66.67% (eight) of 12 goals conceded in that stretch in the second half of play.

Meanwhile, the visitors head to Leicester on a run of 13 straight matches without a loss, although that streak has been very much draw-dominated (W5, D8). Interestingly, 76.92% of those fixtures during that run saw both teams on the scoresheet (10/13), with Birmingham scoring the opening goal on eight of those occasions (61.54%). Pep Clotet will lean on a robust defense to deliver him a positive outcome here. Indeed, the Blues’ backline has been rock-solid recently – they’ve allowed over 1.5 goals only once in their eight previous road trips, keeping a clean sheet in three of the last five. Birmingham tend to switch through the gears in the late stages, having found the net inside the final 15 minutes of play in three of their past four away games.