FA Cup Brentford vs Leicester City: Thomas Frank praises “amazing” Leicester
The fixture marks the Bees’ sixth clash of the season against Premier League opposition, with their only defeat coming against Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup semi-final where Brentford midfielder Josh Dasilva was sent off.
Discussing the upcoming fixture, Brentford manager Thomas Frank said: “I hope it will be a really good game for the eye and we’ll see two teams that will attack well. Leicester are an amazing, forward thinking side. They look really good going forward and also want to press high.”
Prior to their loss against Spurs earlier this month, the Bees were unbeaten in their last 17 games home and away and are currently fourth in the Championship.
Leicester manager Brendan Rogers is wisely cautious of the Championship side, quoted by Leicestershire Live, saying: “They build the game from behind and their positioning on the field is very good. We knew it was going to be a tough game for us. They play very good football. They’re very well coached.”
Both sides go into the match missing important personnel.
Brentford are without their top scorer Ivan Toney through suspension following the striker’s midweek red card against Luton in the Championship. Toney has had an impressive first campaign for Brentford since signing in the summer from Peterborough United, totting up 16 goals and five assists in all competitions.
The other notable absence for the Bees is playmaker Josh Dasilva after his sending off against Spurs. However, despite missing Toney and Dasilva, Frank expressed confidence in his squad depth and said that, although he would rotate some players, whoever he picked would perform well.
However, Leicester are also set to line up without their talisman, with Jamie Vardy sidelined after undergoing a hernia operation. With Vardy’s absence, the Foxes may have to rely on a big performance from the likes of James Maddison, who has three goals in his last four games for the Foxes.
Frank gave his opinion on the England international, saying: “He has a bit of everything. He can assist, give flow to the game and is that classic 10 who wants to score from outside the box but is now scoring more and more from inside the box.”
When Brentford and Leicester met last season the Foxes edged a victory 1-0 thanks to an early goal from Kelechi Iheanacho, a result Brentford manager Frank will be hoping to reverse.
