Leicester face stern MK Dons test

MK Dons welcome Premier League Leicester City to Stadium MK this evening in a Carabao Cup Fourth Round tie.

The Dons will be under the leadership of experienced midfielder Bradley Johnson and goalkeeper David Martin, with Dean Lewington absent through injury – the club captain, who took interim care last week, is undergoing surgery on a hamstring injury today.

With the odds stacked against them, the Dons will be afforded the freedom to express themselves at Stadium MK, though they will still want to put in a committed and spirited display – similar to the one that earned them victory at Fratton Park last weekend.

And, if the Dons do perform to their maximum, maybe the unthinkable could happen. Stadium MK, of course, was the home of one of the competition’s biggest upsets back in 2014, when the Dons beat Manchester United 4-0.

THE OPPOSITION

Leicester City return from their Fifa World Cup break this evening – their first competitive match since 12 November.

Brendan Rodgers’ side have overcome a difficult start to the 2022/23 season to climb to 13th in the Premier League table. They have won five of their last six games across all competitions – one of those being their 3-0 win over Newport County in the Third Round of the Carabao Cup.

The Foxes are three-time winners of the competition, last lifting the trophy back in 2000. They have reached, at least, the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup in four of the last five seasons.

In terms of players to watch, James Maddison, one of those who has been away on World Cup duty, is the Foxes’ leading goalscorer with seven goals to his name this season. Former Don Harvey Barnes is right behind him with six.

LAST TIME OUT

MK Dons produced an excellent away display to beat Portsmouth 2-0 at Fratton Park and secure a much-needed three points.

Under the interim care of Dean Lewington, the Dons rode an early storm from the hosts before taking the lead on 34 minutes courtesy of Bradley Johnson’s far-post header.

Conor Grant, who provided the assist for Johnson’s opener, also helped to provide the Dons’ decisive second goal, directing a Josh McEachran corner into a crowded penalty area, enabling Jack Tucker to poke home his first Dons goal.

Leicester City were last in action on 12 November when they beat West Ham United 2-0 at the London Stadium.

James Maddison scored the opening goal just eight minutes in, hammering home from 10 yards out after Patson Daka’s miscued kick turned into the perfect tee-up.

Lukasz Fabianski saved a Youri Tielemans penalty late in the first half but the Foxes did eventually double their lead with 12 minutes to play through Harvey Barners, who finished off a counter-attacking move.

FIGHTING TALK

Bradley Johnson: “My message to the lads will be that these are the games you want to play in, you want to play against the best players and Leicester are one of the best teams in the Premier League.

“They've got some really good international players, and they've had a break so I'm sure they'll have a strong team, but we're not looking at it as a free-hit - we want to put a performance on and hopefully get a result. We'll go into it full of confidence.”

TEAM NEWS

MK Dons will be without the services of Dean Lewington, who is undergoing surgery on a hamstring injury today.

Bradley Johnson will take the team in Lewington’s absence meaning he is unlikely to feature too. Darragh Burns (ankle) and Joshua Kayode (knee) are out injured.

Leicester City aren’t expected to involve England midfielder James Maddison but fellow internationals Danny Ward, Wout Faes, Timothy Castagne, Youri Tielemans, Nampalys Mendy and Daniel Amartey are in contention.

Caglar Soyuncu, Ricardo Pereira, James Justin and Ryan Bertrand all remain sidelined through injury.