Leicester City take a break from their Premier League title challenge with a Europa League last-32 tie against Slavia Prague on Thursday night.

While the Foxes occupy third position in England's top flight, Slavia are 10 points clear in the Czech Liga, dropping just six points in 19 matches.

Match preview

Having an increasing number of injuries in his first-team squad has given Brendan Rodgers plenty to consider when it comes to juggling ambitions on three fronts.

Achieving Champions League football next season remains the priority, their best chance coming through the Premier League now that they sit in third place.

Nevertheless, Rodgers knows that there is an opportunity to win this competition, providing that he can find the right balance with his team selections over the coming months.

Losing James Justin for the remainder of the season is a huge blow, although the Foxes are now able to call upon the likes of Ricardo Pereira and Caglar Soyuncu.

With Aston Villa to come on Sunday, Rodgers will make alterations to his starting lineup, but he will want to maintain the momentum generated from the 3-1 triumph over Liverpool at the weekend.

While Leicester came through a group involving Braga, AEK and Zorya Luhansk with relative ease, Slavia Prague had to make do with finishing as runners-up to Bayer Leverkusen.

Although the Czech outfit would have progressed as group winners with a win at the Bundesliga side on matchday six, they were comfortably beaten by a 4-0 scoreline.

Regardless of that disappointment, Jindrich Trpisovsky will have been satisfied to negotiate a tough group which also involved Nice and Hapoel Be'er Sheva.

Slavia's only defeat in 19 matches is the capitulation at Leverkusen, highlighting the feeling that Leicester cannot afford any complacency against the 2018-19 quarter-finalists.

Slavia Prague Europa League form: LWWWWL
Slavia Prague form (all competitions): WWWWDW

Leicester City Europa League form: WWWDLW
Leicester City form (all competitions): DLWDWW

Team News

Rodgers could hand rests to Leicester duo Wilfred Ndidi and Jamie Vardy after their recent return from injury.

Nampalys Mendy and Kelechi Iheanacho will expect to come into the team as their replacements, while Christian Fuchs and Cengiz Under could also be involved from the opening whistle.

Trpisovsky was able to rest a number of players during the second half of their 3-0 win against Pardubice on Saturday, increasing the chances of an unchanged team being named for this contest.

Jan Kuchta netted a double in that fixture, taking his recent tally to nine goals from just six appearances.

Slavia Prague possible starting lineup:
Kolar; Bah, Kudela, Deli, Dorley; Holes, Provod; Sima, Stanciu, Olayinka; Kuchta

Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Amartey, Evans, Soyuncu, Fuchs; Mendy, Tielemans; Under, Maddison, Barnes; Iheanacho

We say: Slavia Prague 1-2 Leicester City

Despite having to contend with a number of selection issues, Rodgers will name a strong team in the Czech Republic. While we do not expect the Foxes to have it all their own way, they should be capable of edging their way to an important victory ahead of the return leg.

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