Kick-off: 1230, 07/01/2023
Stadium: Priestfield Stadium
TV: BBC1
Leicester will take an injury-hit squad to Gillingham in the FA Cup but should surely still be too strong for the League Two basement dwellers.
The Foxes lifted this trophy for the first time in 2021 and could do with a boost after three straight Premier League defeats.
We like 14/5 for City to win by any two-goal margin as our opening Gillingham vs Leicester prediction.
Gillingham Odds
Gillingham can take some heart from their EFL Cup exploits this term, upsetting Brentford on penalties before losing 2-0 at Wolves.
In this competition, the Gills have knocked out Fylde and Dagenham & Redbridge following home replays.
However, goals and points have been hard to come by in their own division, with losses to Colchester, Sutton and Stevenage leaving them at the foot of the table.
“We’ve won two out of 23 games and it isn’t good enough and I have to accept responsibility as the manager,” said Neil Harris. “I put the team out there and we haven’t been good enough.”
A fracas in the tunnel between the two teams during half-time was arguably the most memorable thing about Monday’s 1-0 defeat at Stevenage.
One period where Gillingham have really struggled this term is the middle third of the first half, trailing 0-8 in that time zone.
Looking at the Gillingham vs Leicester odds, City can be backed at 21/10 to outscore their hosts between 15:01 and 30:00 minutes.
Leicester City Odds
Leicester looked to have recovered from a nightmare start to the season when rattling off five wins in eight Premier League games from the start of October.
However, they have been slow out of the blocks again since returning to action after the World Cup break.
Losses to Newcastle and Liverpool were followed by Tuesday’s frustrating 1-0 home defeat by Fulham.
The Foxes were disjointed after losing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to a glute injury minutes before kick-off against the Cottagers and also saw Boubakary Soumare limp off early.
That took their injury list to nine and Brendan Rodgers admitted: “It’s a small squad. When we have a few injuries, we are short in terms of the numbers we want.
“The guys are giving everything but from the run we were on before the break, there were five of those players who weren’t out this evening.”
Even so, Leicester did create chances, with Youri Tielemans hitting the bar while Harvey Barnes and Jamie Vardy had shots saved.
City are still in the EFL Cup after posting 3-0 victories over Newport and MK Dons in the last couple of rounds.
Vardy netted three times in those ties, while Barnes has also been in decent goalscoring form this term, but this could be a chance for Kelechi Iheanacho to shine.
The 26-year-old loves the FA Cup, having struck on 10 occasions in 15 ties for the Foxes after grabbing five goals in six outings for Manchester City.
Let’s add 13/5 for the Nigeria international to break the deadlock to our Gillingham vs Leicester betting tips.
Additional stats
Last result:
Stevenage 1-0 GILLINGHAM
LEICESTER 0-1 Fulham
Head-to-head: N/A
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