Leicester City and Southampton will clash at the Wembley Stadium in the second F.A. Cup semi-final of this season.
The Foxes have not reached the final since 1969 while the Saints last reached the final in 2003.
Southampton are competing in the final four of this competition for the 12th time while their fellow Premier League counterparts are in their 8th.
Leicester Looking To Change History
The Foxes are on the verge of reaching the F.A Cup final for the first time since their last appearance over 50 years ago.
Brendan Rogers‘ side defeated Manchester United 3-1 in the previous round of this competition and are favorites to reach the finals.
Leicester are currently third in the Premier League but lost their recent game against West Ham United.
With this defeat, they have lost their last 2 games in the league and questions have raised whether they can hold their spot in the top 4 or not.
The question, however, can be answered in the coming weeks but all they have now to focus is on beating Southampton to face Chelsea in the finals.
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Leicester City reached this stage of the competition all the way back in 1982 where they lost 2-0 to eventual champions Tottenham Hotspur.
This Brendan Rogers’ side are currently undefeated in the F.A. Cup but have lost their last 2 games in the Premier League.
Southampton Looking For European Spot
The Saints are currently 14th in the Premier League and have got just this F.A Cup competition as well as the league to focus on till the end of the season.
Ralph Hasenhutti‘s side scored 3 against Bournemouth in the previous round and are looking to get an opportunity to reach Europa League next season.
The winner of the F.A Cup gets an automatic slot in the group stages of the Europa League and this would mean a lot for a team that are in 14th.
Southampton have kept clean sheets in their recent matches against Shrewsbury Town, Arsenal, Wolves and Bournemouth. They might become the first team to reach the finals without conceding a goal.
There is a high chance for Southampton to be the first team after Everton in 1965/66 to reach the final without having conceded a single goal in their match.
Ever since the Saints won the Football League Trophy final in 2010, they have lost their last four matches at Wembley; including the semi-final against Chelsea in 2018.
Just like their opponents, Southampton have not lost a single game in this competition and will prove tough for Leicester.
Leicester City Injury Woes
Leicester City recently left James Maddison, Ayoze Perez, and Hamza Choudhary out of the squad during their loss against West Ham as the players violated the Covid-19 protocols.
However, everyone knows the importance of these players for Leicester so they have been allowed to train with the team this week.
Caglar Soyuncu, who is vital for the defense of the Foxes was out due to contraction of Covid-19 but has recovered. So there is a high chance for him to feature in this game.
If he does get a nod in the starting lineup, then Amartey will likely make way.
Three of the Foxes’ are injured. There is doubt in regards to Cengiz Under while players like Harvey Barnes and James Justin have been ruled out.
Jamie Vardy, arguably the main man for Leicester will however start alongside the in-form Kelechi Iheanacho.
The English forward has a love for playing in Wembley and has scored in his last three appearances for Leicester in this stadium.
Predicted Lineup For Leicester: Schmeichel (GK) (C), Soyuncu, Fofana, Under, Pereira, Tielemans, Castagne, Maddison, Perez, Vardy, Iheanacho.
Southampton’s Strongest Lineup
The Saints will not have their young Japanese loanee forward Takumi Minamino because the player played for his parent club Liverpool in the starting stages of this competition.
Hasenhutti will miss three players like Oriel Romeu, Michael Obafemi, and William Smallbone against Leicester.
Ralph fielded his strongest side against West Brom but suffered a shocking loss.
Due to this defeat, there is a high chance for players like Moussa Djenepo, Che Adams to make their mark in the first team.
The starting striker Nathan Redmond looks to continue his strong form in this competition as he has scored five goals and provided two assists in his last six F.A. Cup appearances.
Predicted Southampton Lineup: Forster (GK), Walker-Peters, Vestergaard, Bednarek, Bertrand, Armstrong, Che Adams, Ward-Prowse, Djenepo, Ings, Redmond.
