Leicester City travel to Braga in the Europa League on Thursday night hoping to win their fourth European match in a row for the first time in their history.

Braga, meanwhile, will be hosting their ninth different English side in a European competition and are hoping to move level on points with the Foxes at the top of Group G.

Match preview

Leicester's impressive run of six consecutive wins in all competitions came to an end on Saturday night as they lost 3-0 to Liverpool in the Premier League.

Despite defeat away from home for the first time in all competitions, the Foxes remain in the top four, two points behind leaders Tottenham Hotspur after their first nine league matches of the campaign.

Brendan Rodgers now turns his attention to the Europa League with a hunger to win Group G and to be in a strong position heading into the knockout stages of the competition.

The Foxes cruised to a 4-0 victory over Braga at the beginning of November – their biggest ever European win – and know that another triumph would confirm their qualification from the group.

Striker Kelechi Iheanacho, who scored twice against Braga, has been directly involved in six goals in the Europa League this season with three goals and three assists, the joint-most of any player alongside Lille midfielder Yusuf Yazici.

Leicester's only previous away game against Portuguese opposition came in December 2016 when they lost 5-0 at Porto in the Champions League.

The Foxes currently sit at the top of Group G with nine points and could move six points clear of Braga with victory on Thursday night.

Braga have been on an impressive run of their own, winning seven of their last eight matches in all competitions, with their 4-0 loss to Leicester their only setback in recent weeks.

Victories have included their Europa League wins over AEK Athens and Zorya Luhansk as well as a surprise 3-2 away triumph against Portuguese giants Benfica in the Primeira Liga.

The Portuguese outfit have lost three of their last five matches in the Europa League, having been unbeaten in seven games prior to this run.

Braga's last match against English opposition prior to Leicester was a 3-3 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers this time last year. They also defeated the West Midlands club 1-0 at Molineux two months earlier.

A win for Carlos Carvalhal's side would see them go level on points with the Foxes at the top of Group G, winning their third Europa League match of the campaign.

Braga Europa League form: WWL
Braga form (all competitions): WWWLWW

Leicester City Europa League form: WWW
Leicester City form (all competitions): WWWWWL

Team News

Braga boss Carlos Carvalhal could operate with a 4-5-1 formation as opposed to the 3-5-2 setup which was used against Leicester earlier this month.

Central defender David Carmo, who has been linked with a move to Manchester United, is suspended so Raul Silva is likely to start alongside Bruno Viana.

Midfielder Fransergio tested positive for coronavirus at the start of the month and is a doubt heading into Thursday's match.

Brendan Rodgers may look to give some minutes to his returning players. Timothy Castagne, Wilfred Ndidi and Ricardo Pereira are all closing in on full recoveries and could feature from the bench.

The Leicester manager could name an unchanged side from the one that beat Braga 4-0 a few weeks ago.

Kelechi Iheanacho is set to lead the line with Jamie Vardy expected to be given a rest but he will likely be an option from the bench.

Braga possible starting lineup:
Matheus; Esgaio, Viana, Silva, Sequeira; Medeiros, Musrati, Castro, Horta, Galeno; Paulinho

Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Forfana, Evans, Fuchs; Albrighton, Praet, Choudhury, Thomas; Under, Maddison, Iheanacho

We say: Braga 1-3 Leicester City

Braga are set to name a more attacking lineup than they did a few weeks ago and will be keen to avenge what happened when they last played the Foxes. However, Leicester should once again have the quality to dispatch the Portuguese outfit and confirm their qualification for the last 32 of the Europa League.

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