Edouard, Buonanotte, El Khannouss – Leicester City injuries and team news updates ahead of Everton clash this would developed into…
Latest on fitness and availability front as Foxes host the Toffees in a crunch clash at the King Power Stadium between two sides potentially in relegation trouble
Odsonne Edouard will be in line to make his Leicester City debut this Saturday (3pm) with the striker “frustrated” the fixture list has made him wait.
Edouard, signed on loan from Crystal Palace on deadline day, is expected to be on the bench against Everton as deputy for Jamie Vardy. City’s established number nine has played 90 minutes in each of the past two games, but Edouard will likely be considered as an option in the second half to freshen things up at the top of the pitch.
For the past few weeks, Edouard has had to sit and wait. Signed too late to feature against Aston Villa, an international break followed, and then he was kept on the sidelines again at the weekend, ineligible to face his parent club at Selhurst Park. Now he’s in contention.
Speaking on Edouard last week, City manager Steve Cooper said: “Odsonne, we’re delighted he’s here. He’s a bit frustrated he can’t play because of the loan agreement. We’re looking forward to introducing him when we can. We’ve got really good competition now and we want the guys to be pushing each other so we can get to a place we really want to be in games.”
If Edouard is included in the City squad, it will mean another player has to miss out. At Palace, City left Kasey McAteer, Jannik Vestergaard, Luke Thomas, and Will Alves off their bench, with Cooper’s squad now brimming with options in every position.
Provided there are no injuries this week, they will only have two players unavailable this weekend. Patson Daka and Jakub Stolarczyk are still in recovery from ankle surgeries.
Team selection against the Toffees will be intriguing, particularly in attacking midfield. Facundo Buonanotte missed out on a start against Palace after undergoing a scan in midweek and Cooper opting for a cautious approach over the Argentinian, leading Wilfred Ndidi to start. But the Brighton loanee will be in contention against Everton, Cooper has already said.
Plus, the club’s £20m summer signing Bilal El Khannouss will finally get his first full week of training this week, with his late arrival and Morocco duty meaning he’s done very little work at Seagrave so far. Taking part in all of the preparation to face the Toffees, he too could be a contender for the starting line-up on Saturday.
