Southampton vs Leicester City FA Cup preview, team news, TV channel

Southampton face their biggest match of the season so far on Sunday when they take on Leicester City at Wembley in the FA Cup Semi-Finals.

Whilst both sides are in differing form in the Premier League and sit at opposite ends of the table, some impressive cup displays have got them this far and the winner of this tie will set up a Final against either Chelsea of Manchester City.

Saints last got to this stage of the competition back in the 2017/18 season where they were beaten by Chelsea, but relative safety in the league now means they can have a strong push towards winning the second major trophy in their history.

Leicester are in the battle to secure Champions League qualification but will also be keen to add some silverware after getting this far.

Pre-match stats

Saints

Last five in all comps: LLWWL

FA Cup opponents so far: Shrewsbury Town, Arsenal, Wolverhampton Wanderers, AFC Bournemouth

Goal difference in cup run: +8 (eight scored, none conceded)

Leicester

Last five in all comps: WWWLL

FA Cup opponents so far: Stoke City, Brentford, Brighton and Hove Albion, Manchester United

Goal difference in cup run: +9 (11 scored, two conceded)

Saints team news, why they will win

Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl has the same squad available to him as last weekend, although striker Michael Obafemi has returned to training after a lengthy lay-off

It is unknown whether some changes will be made to his starting line-up with other players pushing for recalls from the bench or whether Hasenhuttl will show faith in his first-choice line-up.

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• It’s time to talk about Gavin Bazunu
• Rain clouds on the horizon? Southampton beat Plymouth Argyle
• A lament for Southampton legend James Ward-Prowse

If Saints manage to get back to their strong pressing game and keep the space between the lines tight, they have every chance of causing Leicester problems.

Set-pieces may be key with James Ward-Prowse about, but the attacking movement of the front four has been excellent when everything clicks into gear. It has just not happened enough this season overall.

Potential Saints line-up (4-2-2-2)

Fraser Forster; Kyle Walker-Peters, Jan Bednarek, Jannik Vestergaard, Ryan Bertrand; James Ward-Prowse, Ibrahima Diallo; Stuart Armstrong, Moussa Djenepo; Danny Ings, Che Adams

Leicester team news, why they will win

The Foxes will be without Harvey Barnes but could be boosted by the return of Caglar Soyuncu and Cengiz Under from injury. James Maddison, Ayoze Perez and Hamza Choudhury could also come back into contention after a disciplinary matter.

Although Saints put up a strong fight against Brendan Rodgers’ side when they met in the Premier League back in January, the Foxes’ quality shone through and they were eventually able to claim a fairly comfortable 2-0 win in the end.

A very solid looking back three and midfield four will keep things tight and not allow Saints players to drift into the central areas they usually target. A potential front three of Maddison, Iheanacho and Vardy looks to have everything that they need to create and score.

If Saints allow space between their midfield and defence as was seen last weekend, those players could have a field day.

Potential Leicester line-up (3-4-1-2)

Kasper Schmeichel; Wesley Fofana, Jonny Evans, Caglar Soyuncu; Ricardo Pereira, Youri Tielemans, Wilfried N’didi, Timothy Castagne; James Maddison; Kelechi Iheanacho, Jamie Vardy

TV channel

In the UK, this game will be shown on BT Sport 1. Their coverage of the game begins at 6pm and the match kicks off at 6:30pm.

Score prediction

Saints 2-1 Leicester City