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Still seeking his first competitive victory as Leicester City manager, Steve Cooper will be hoping that the third time’s the charm when his team faces Tranmere Rovers in the EFL Cup second-round match on Tuesday.
The Foxes will host their League Two opponents at the King Power Stadium following a 2-1 Premier League defeat to Fulham. In contrast, Tranmere already has a 3-0 victory under their belt in this year’s League Cup.
After frustrating Tottenham Hotspur with a draw on the opening day of the season, Leicester City briefly experienced a sense of déjà vu against Fulham, who initially failed to capitalize on Emile Smith Rowe’s fine opener on Saturday.
Despite Fulham’s dominance, they couldn’t extend their lead before halftime. Leicester’s Wout Faes then equalized with a header at a rainy Craven Cottage, but Alex Iwobi—a former Arsenal player like Smith Rowe—restored Fulham’s lead in the second half.
The narrow loss in West London was particularly painful for Cooper, who believed Leicester deserved at least a point, though he lamented the defensive errors that led to Smith Rowe and Iwobi’s goals.
As Leicester continues to search for their first Premier League win of the season, Cooper and his team now aim to fulfill their role as favorites in the EFL Cup—a competition Leicester has won three times, most recently in 1999-00, when they defeated Tranmere in the final.
Since their last League Cup triumph, Leicester’s best performance came with a semi-final exit to Aston Villa in the 2019-20 season. The 2015-16 Premier League champions have not been knocked out in the second round of the League Cup for a decade.
For Tranmere, reaching the EFL Cup final again has proven elusive since their defeat to Leicester 24 years ago. The team has only advanced beyond the second round once in their last 19 appearances in the competition, eventually losing to Stoke City in the third round in 2013-14.
Tranmere has been eliminated at this stage of the EFL Cup in each of the last two seasons, but Nigel Adkins’ side has shown early promise this year, including a 3-0 victory over Accrington Stanley in the first round of the tournament.
In their 2024-25 League Two campaign, Tuesday’s visitors are remarkably the only team yet to concede a goal, following goalless draws with Port Vale and Notts County and a 1-0 win over Walsall, secured by Omari Patrick’s early strike.
Aside from a 3-1 loss to Everton’s Under-21s in the EFL Trophy, Tranmere has demonstrated strong defensive form, though they have struggled with scoring goals.
Leicester and Tranmere also met at this stage of last year’s EFL Cup, where second-half goals from Wilfred Ndidi and Jamie Vardy led the Foxes to a comfortable 2-0 win at Prenton Park.
