Everton play host to Leicester City in the EFL Cup quarter-finals with caretaker boss Duncan Ferguson having recorded four points from two games in temporary charge.

While the Foxes make the trip to Goodison Park sitting in second place in the Premier League table, Brendan Rodgers must consider whether to make changes to his starting lineup.

Match preview

While Rodgers would have been naturally disappointed with his side's 1-1 draw against Norwich City at the weekend, the Leicester boss will put the result into context with regards to the rest of the campaign.

The Foxes remain in second position in the Premier League, four points above third-placed Manchester City, and with the opportunity to move a step closer to winning a trophy during the early months of 2020.

The East Midlands outfit have had to contend with three successive away ties in this competition, a run which began with a penalty-shootout triumph over Newcastle United in August.

Successes have followed at Luton Town and Burton Albion respectively - games which have seen Kelechi Iheanacho get on the scoresheet in the absence of Jamie Vardy.

With the latter likely to feature on the substitutes' bench on Wednesday night, Iheanacho will see this as an opportunity to stake a claim for a starting role against his former club Man City at the weekend.

Everton and Ferguson will also view this tie as a good chance to progress closer to an appearance at Wembley Stadium, although the Scot has plenty of selection concerns heading into this match.

Given the current injury issues in midfield, Ferguson must decide whether to take risks on the likes of Tom Davies, while the spotlight is also on whether Moise Kean will play any part in the match.

Despite his second-half introduction against Manchester United on Sunday, the Italian was later substituted by Ferguson, and it remains to be seen whether the youngster has any future at Goodison Park.

Everton have reached the last eight with wins over Lincoln City, Sheffield Wednesday and Watford respectively.

Everton EFL Cup form: WWW
Everton form (all competitions): WLLLWD

Leicester City EFL Cup form competition form: DWW
Leicester City form (all competitions): WWWWWD

Team News

While Rodgers has not got into the habit of making sweeping changes in this competition, the Northern Irishman must take Saturday evening's meeting with City at the Etihad Stadium into consideration.

Many of his senior players could drop down to the substitutes' bench, giving the likes of Danny Ward, James Justin, Wes Morgan, Christian Fuchs, Hamza Choudhury and Demarai Gray rare outings in the first XI.

Ayoze Perez and Harvey Barnes will also expect to start after only featuring among the replacements at the weekend.

As for Everton, Ferguson will hope to have Fabian Delph and Gylfi Sigurdsson back in contention after a thigh injury and illness respectively.

Djibril Sidibe could replace Seamus Coleman at right-back, while Leighton Baines is in line to start ahead of Lucas Digne on the opposite side of the backline.

Cenk Tosun is expected to get the nod in attack, with either Richarlison or Dominic Calvert-Lewin dropping down to the bench.

Everton possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Sidibe, Keane, Mina, Baines; Holgate, Delph; Bernard, Sigurdsson, Richarlison; Tosun

Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Ward; Justin, Morgan, Soyuncu, Fuchs; Choudhury, Praet; Gray, Perez, Barnes; Iheanacho

We say: Everton 1-2 Leicester City

While Toffees fans will want to go further in this competition, Leicester may be better equipped to deal with the extra fixture in a hectic schedule. With changes aplenty expected, we feel that the Foxes will grind out a win on Merseyside.