Gillingham v Leicester predictions: Foxes may need to be patient at Priestfield

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Gillingham v Leicester City in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

Where to watch

BBC One, 12.30pm Saturday

Best bets

Draw-Leicester double result
1pt 3-1 Betfair, Hills

Harvey Barnes to score at any time
1pt 6-4 bet365

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Team news

Gillingham
Lewis Walker and Ben Reeves are out through injury while new signing Tom Nichols is cup-tied. Goalkeeper Jake Turner will start after loanee Glenn Morris departed the club this week.

Leicester
Patson Daka and Dennis Praet are likely to be involved but Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Boubakary Soumare and James Maddison have been ruled out. Jonny Evans, Ricardo Pereira, Ryan Bertrand and James Justin are longer-term absentees.

Match preview

With memories of how their FA Cup defence ended in East Midlands derby ignominy last season still fresh in his mind, Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers has been keen to play up the difficulty of Saturday’s trip to Gillingham, even though the odds suggest otherwise.

Leicester are long odds-on to banish memories of the 4-1 “embarrassment”, as Rodgers dubbed it, they suffered in their last FA Cup outing at then-Championship side Nottingham Forest, and with good reason.

The Gills are propping up the entire Football League, having registered a paltry two wins and seven goals this season, and there’s little in the form book to suggest Neil Harris’s 18-1 underdogs can pull off a giant-killing.

However, top-flight sides Brentford and Wolves would testify to Gillingham being awkward customers - the Bees were sent packing from this season’s EFL Cup by the League Two basement boys, who also held Wolves at bay for 77 minutes in the next round before succumbing to a 2-0 loss.

On a sticky Priestfield pitch, Rodgers' worries are not unfounded and there's an argument to be made for Gillingham holding their own for at least 45 minutes against an injury-hit and out-of-sorts Leicester.

The Foxes lacked imagination and intent in Tuesday’s home loss to Fulham and were booed off following a costly defeat that saw Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Boubakary Soumare added to an overcrowded treatment room.

The injuries leave Rodgers short of options and Harvey Barnes, who might have been rested with one eye on next week’s EFL Cup quarter-final against Newcastle, is one player who could be pressed into service.

Barnes is a handful for most Premier League defences, let alone a League Two backline. He has fired off two or more shots in five of his last six top-flight outings, and is worth a punt to bag in the FA Cup for the fourth season running.

Barnes will expect to score against a team who have lost four on the bounce to leave them rooted to the foot of the lowest tier. Despite the circumstances, the mood at Gillingham is one of optimism following the shot in the arm of a takeover by US businessman Brad Galinson just before Christmas.

Galinson has already put his hand in his pocket to sign striker Tom Nichols from Crawley and has drafted in experienced coaching duo Kenny Jackett and Gills favourite Andy Hessenthaler to help Harris behind the scenes.

Football League survival is clearly Gillingham’s priority but they’ve given everything in their two previous meetings with Premier League opposition, making themselves compact and tough to break down on each occasion.

Gillingham’s lack of an outlet or serious threat up front will make it tough to relieve the inevitable pressure Leicester will apply and although the visitors' superior class should eventually tell, the Gills could make the Foxes sweat a little first.