Leicester City have travelled to one relegation battler and lost already this week. They'll hope to avoid a repeat on Friday night.
After a 1-0 defeat to Millwall on Tuesday, City were fortunate to remain at the top of the Championship table, with Ipswich and Leeds both drawing 0-0 at home to mid-table sides Watford and Sunderland. Now facing their longest trip of the season to Plymouth, City will hope to right the wrongs of Millwall and take a step towards promotion.
But the Pilgrims' home record is good and they have an end-of-season goal to aim for too as they bid to ensure their stay in the Championship is not just one season. It's a game with a lot riding on it.
We are live at Home Park to bring you action, analysis, and reaction. You can follow along below, with team news at 7pm and kick-off at 8pm.
Key Events
Take some solace in news that you can't be hit with deduction this season?
“That’s very good news for us. Hopefully now we can win the last four games to finish well and reach our target.”
You said players are tired but seven outfielders have started three games in seven days. Why?
EM: “I spoke with some of them. They all said that they were recovered and they were okay. The reason why we changed three players was because of that. At this stage of the season, to make six or seven changes, probably it’s difficult compared to the beginning of the season when we did it many times. Now it’s more complicated.”
Q: Why is it more complicated?
EM: “The reason why is that the players who are playing now are physically a little bit more prepared compared to the players that are a long time not getting minutes.”
What did you say to the players at full-time?
“That the only positive thing is that it’s still in our hands but that we need to change something in terms of taking chances and being clinical. It’s not possible that tonight’s game, with one chance they have been clinical, and with many, many chances and with better-quality players and we are not being clinical.”
More difficult to win all four games when momentum's against you?
“I don’t know if we need all four wins to get promoted because it depends now what the other teams do. But to be sure, we need to win all four games. Fortunately, three of them are at home.”
Is the team playing as well as they were in the autumn during the winning run?
“For sure when you don’t win games, there is always a reason why. But off the ball the team recovers a lot of ball, we pressed very high. We were very intense. On the ball, we created chances. So I don’t see a big difference between tonight’s game and the previous games, in terms of when we started the season. Tonight, if we win the game, you are probably talking about the performance, the chances we created, the way we dominated, the way we pressed. But when you lose, I completely understand that we are always looking for more reasons. But again, the team compete. They give everything. It is what it is, we need to accept that.”
You said the best way to show faith in Daka was to give him minutes. Need to do something different now?
“The first one who is not happy when they miss chances are the players. I said yesterday that the only way to show Pats my trust and confidence is to give him minutes. Tonight I showed him again. He missed chances. But we need all of our players until the end to try to help us to reach our target.”
Would Daka have taken those chances if he'd been in a confident mood?
“That’s a good question. It’s not just in the last game. There have been different games where we created chances and we missed. It happened tonight with Pats. It happened the other night with Pats and Kele. It happened the game before against Bristol City with Jamie. It happened with all of the strikers. Hopefully now we have four games. We don’t have any more bonuses. We cannot lose any more chances.”
You say missed chances just happen. Is there anything you can do to help?
“At the end, the problem is that when you don’t create chances. Then you can be worried and have to try to find different solutions. When you create chances, it is what it is. In this moment, we completely struggle to score goals. We created chances inside the six-yard box, inside the box, from outside the box, but we struggled. There are moments in the season where for any reason, you need to take the win. Tonight was one of the game that it doesn’t matter in which way, we needed to win the game. We didn’t win the game. The positive thing is that it’s still in our hands, fortunately, in the last four games.”
Maresca's thoughts on performance and result as 'bonuses' disappear
“For sure it has been a tough week. Two defeats in a row that we didn’t expect. We are upset. The only good thing is that fortunately it’s still in our hands. But the bonuses have finished in terms of we need to start taking our chances and start to win games. We have four games to go and three of them at home with our fans in behind. Hopefully we can finish well.”
Still waiting to hear from Maresca with no word from City boss yet
Unusually, we've still not heard from Maresca. He's not yet arrived for his post-match press conference.
We'll bring you updates when he comes. Until then, read our ratings here.
Full-time: Plymouth 1-0 City in huge blow to promotion hopes
There was one half chance in added time with Vardy unable to quite stretch to meet Mavididi's cross.
But once again, City lose 1-0 away at a relegation battler. Those Daka misses were costly. But City didn't create much in the final 20 minutes either. That's six defeats in 10. They will fall to third if Leeds and Ipswich avoid defeat tomorrow.
Reaction to come.
Vardy denied at close range by Cooper with time running out for City
Vardy races onto a through ball and just gets there first to prod a toe onto it. But Cooper has rushed out and is down on the ground to smother.
There will be five added minutes for City to rescue a point. Someone needs to come up with something special.
No chances since Vardy came on with City staring at another defeat
It's been poor since Vardy came on. City fans will have been wishing he had the chances that came Daka's way, as nothing has been created since.
There's around seven minutes plus injury time to go and on how things are at the moment, you would not back City to find an equaliser.
Daka subbed off as he scuffs wide in another fantastic chance
Oh dear. That's dreadfully poor from Daka. The ball drops to him in the box and while it's bouncing, he has time to compose himself. But instead, he completely scuffs it wide.
It's his last touch, with Vardy coming on. Daka's departure is cheered by the City fans.
Praet heads over Mavididi cross as City push for an equaliser
Another chance. Mavididi, who does look really up for this, wins the ball back in the corner and crosses, with Praet flicking a header over the bar.
The City fans behind the goal try to encourage their team. Can they sense an equaliser? City are definitely getting into the box more.
Praet on for Ndidi as Daka misses a huge chance for leveller
It's not often Maresca makes changes before the 60-minute mark but he's seen enough to bring Praet on for Ndidi.
Praet created a couple of chances after coming on against Millwall, and Maresca will hope he can do the same again here.
And he does immediately, threading a ball in behind for Fatawu. It's across to Daka, who doesn't get the right connection on his finish and puts it well wide. He was free eight yards out. It should have gone in.
Dewsbury-Hall has first effort of the second half for unchanged City
No changes at the break for City, who have the first effort of the second half. Dewsbury-Hall gets the ball from Justin, spins his man and shoots well from 20 yards, but it's straight down Cooper's throat.
City could do with taking more shots from inside the box really. But it's a struggle to get in there.
Half-time: Plymouth 1-0 City as Bundu's goal separates the sides
Well it was quite good for the first 15 minutes. Then Bundu scored, a well-taken goal, and after that, City weren't up to much. They were still on top, but just not as much of a threat.
There were boos at the break from the away fans and Hermansen, guarding the goal near the City fans, gingerly gestured them to get behind the team in the second half.
Bundu shoots over for Plymouth with first half drawing to a close
We will have four minutes added on at the end of the half.
The last shot that came in was from Bundu, Plymouth's goalscorer blazing over from 20 yards after a nice quick exchange of passes with Forshaw.
City had one decent attack where Dewsbury-Hall and Mavididi went at pace, but the cross was deflected into Cooper's hands.
City struggling to get into Plymouth box as Dewsbury-Hall appeals for penalty
The problem City have of course is that Plymouth don't need to be as adventurous now. They have a lead and they can defend it.
City are finding it more difficult to get into the box already, albeit Dewsbury-Hall did just make a break and was eased off the ball by Pleguezelo. He felt illegally, but the referee said no.
A reminder than in the 12 games before now in which City have conceded first, they've won four, drawn one and lost seven.
Dewsbury-Hall and Ndidi ask questions of each other after chance goes begging
There's a lovely bit of skill as Dewsbury-Hall nutmegs his man and then crosses low, the ball in blocked out for a corner. He then has a go at Ndidi, asking why he wasn't moving towards the front post. Ndidi asks why Dewsbury-Hall didn't play it in the air. There's been plenty of arguing tonight.
Meanwhile, Winks has just fired one wide. City have been back on top since the goal.
Goal. Plymouth lead against the run of play as Bundu bends in
Oh no, oh no.
A City attack breaks down and there's a fortunate bounce for Plymouth as the ball cannons off Winks. Bundu is sent clear down the left and Faes just keeps back-tracking, allowing him to get into the area. From there, he picks out the far corner.
It's totally against the run of play. But Plymouth won't care, and City can't either. They need a response.
City more threatening than Tuesday as Winks shouts at Dewsbury-Hall
City must have already had more entries into the box than they did in the whole of the first half at Millwall. In their latest good chance, Mavididi bent a shot wide from 18 yards.
It's not all rosy though. Winks has given away a few passes in a row and for the last one you could hear him shouting at Dewsbury-Hall for not being alert enough.
Daka scores offside goal as Ricardo denied as City put pressure on
Daka has the ball in the net, but before he stroked it home, the flag was up. Again it came from a Dewsbury-Hall surge. The midfielder found of pocket of space, received the ball from Vestergaard, turned and ran, and nobody closed him down.
He threaded it through to Daka, who finished well into the bottom corner, but the flag was up early.
And now City have had two more chances. A cute Ndidi pass sets up Ricardo, who low shot is saved by Cooper. And then Mavididi heads a cross back into the six-yard area, which Cooper palms away in front of Daka flying in.
Kick-off with Dewsbury-Hall and Ndidi back on their usual sides
For supporters who were frustrated at Ndidi and Dewsbury-Hall being stifled by playing on opposite sides in attacking midfield on Tuesday, there's pleasing news.
Dewsbury-Hall is back on the left and Ndidi is on the right. Dewsbury-Hall has just had a long run up the pitch and tried to find Ndidi, but his pass was cut out.
That was promising for City though as Plymouth looked like they didn't really know how to deal with Dewsbury-Hall.
The teams are on the pitch with City fans in great voice ahead of kick-off
Out come City in their orange away strip and they form a huddle before the match. That feels new.
There's a lot of City supporters here. The away end is packed for what is the longest trip of the season. It's City's first match here in 14 years, so perhaps it's the first game here for a few of the younger fans.
What the EFL statement means for City's promotion bid and points deduction
So it's been quite a dramatic evening already for City. In case you're confused over the EFL and City statements, it means in short that the EFL cannot hit the club with a points deduction this season, even if the Premier League believe they deserve one.
That's despite the EFL's chief exec Trevor Birch writing to the Premier League to tell them he wanted to do so, only to then be told by the EFL's lawyers that he couldn't.
Read more here.
How Plymouth line up with Callum Wright on the bench for home side
If former City midfielder Callum Wright wants to get his own back against his old club, then he will need to do so from the bench.
City team news as Daka, Justin, and Fatawu brought in by Maresca
Patson Daka leads the line for Leicester City at Plymouth with three changes made to the team.
Daka comes in for Jamie Vardy up front and will aim to score for the first time in nine matches, ending a goal drought that has lasted for two months. Vardy is on the bench, along with Tom Cannon, with Kelechi Iheanacho left out.
In the other changes, James Justin comes in for Callum Doyle at left-back while Abdul Fatawu is back into the 11, with Yunus Akgun dropping to the bench. Yunus is the only wide option among the substitutes, with Marc Albrighton and Wanya Marcal both left out of the squad. Ben Nelson is called up, joining Doyle and Conor Coady as defensive options Enzo Maresca could turn to.
Otherwise, it’s the same team that lost at Millwall on Tuesday. Ricardo Pereira, Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard, Harry Winks, Wilfred Ndidi, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and Stephy Mavididi are all starting their third game in seven days.
City (4-3-3):Hermansen; Ricardo, Faes, Vestergaard, Justin; Winks, Ndidi, Dewsbury-Hall; Fatawu, Daka, Mavididi. Subs: Stolarczyk, Coady, Nelson, Doyle, Choudhury, Praet, Yunus, Vardy, Cannon.
Maresca could make changes to help cope with quick turnaround
It's fair to say Maresca is not happy that City have to play this game, their longest trip of the season, on a Friday night, just 72 hours after another long trip. You can read his full rant on that here.
But now it's a question of how they're going to deal with it. Maresca didn't make many changes in midweek, so to avoid a tired display, he might have to make a few more this time.
Here's our predicted line-up, with Justin, Praet, Fatawu, and Iheanacho all brought into the team.
