Leicester City were rolled over in a 5-2 defeat to a Manchester United side in transition during midweek in the EFL Cup, but Steve Cooper believes it’s all par for the course for his side.

It came off the back of a disappointing 3-1 derby defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend. While it was a heavily rotated squad that lined up in Manchester, such a resounding defeat cannot help confidence ahead of their fixture against fellow promoted side, Ipswich Town.

But Cooper can look back on previous form and feel some comfort in his side’s ability to come back, particularly against those teams familiar with the Championship.

The last time the East Midlands outfit travelled away from home in the Premier League, they found themselves 2-0 down to Southampton at half-time but delivered a miraculous second-half performance to win 3-2. For Cooper, such changing fortunes are to be expected.

“The Forest and Southampton game, they are probably great examples of what will come in future this season,” he said following the defeat to Forest.

“We will have games where we get really good results and the world feels like a brilliant place and we’ll get the opposite like we had at Forest.”

“That’s the nature of the league that we’re playing in and where we’re at. What we’ve got to do is make sure that we stay on task and stay on track, which we are doing. We never want to accept defeat too easily, but make sure that it doesn’t deter us from the journey that we’re on.”

“That journey will be full of ups and downs, there’s no doubt about that.”

Leicester currently sit fifteenth on nine points, ahead of Ipswich, who are without a win so far this season and currently languishing in the relegation zone on four points.

But Cooper will hope the “ups” return soon as failing to register a result against fellow potential relegation candidates could prove costly further down the line.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Ipswich Town – Liam Delap

Delap has scored 56% of Ipswich’s Premier League goals this season (5/9) – only Chris Wood has netted a higher share of his team’s goals so far this term (64% for Nottingham Forest).

He is Ipswich’s biggest threat having taken more shots (13) and shots on target (eight) than any other player in the squad.

Leicester City – Jamie Vardy

The Foxes veteran is in a rich vein of form. He’s scored in his last two games, and aged 37 years and 296 days on the day of this game would be the oldest player to score in three consecutive Premier League appearances with a goal here.

He is Leicester’s top scorer this season with four goals in nine Premier League games. It is one more than he managed in 37 appearances in his last top-flight campaign of 2022-23.

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

Both times the newly-promoted sides faced each other in the Championship last season, the outcome was a 1-1 draw.

Ipswich have won all three of their previous Premier League home games against Leicester – 4-1 in January 1995, 2-0 in January 2001 and 2-0 in December 2001.

However, in the last nine meetings between the two sides, Leicester have lost just one (W5 D3).

A comeback could be on the cards if the Foxes are to win at the weekend. In their last Premier League away game, Leicester City came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 against fellow promoted opposition, Southampton.

It ended a run of 11 top-flight away games without a win for the Foxes, last winning consecutive such matches in November 2022 (a run of three).

Ipswich have dropped 10 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, with only Brentford (11) dropping more. Indeed, the Tractor Boys let a two-goal lead slip to lose 4-3 in their last match.

But a win is overdue for the hosts, who remain winless in their nine league games so far this season – in their league history, only in 2009-10 (first 14) and 2018-19 (first 11) have they had a longer winless run from the start of a campaign.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Ipswich Town – 42.8%

Leicester City – 32.1%

Draw – 25.1%

Pep Guardiola conceded Manchester City are in a "difficult position" with injuries after their 2-1 EFL Cup defeat to Tottenham on Wednesday.

Timo Werner and Pape Sarr did the damage in the first half of the fourth-round tie, though Matheus Nunes reduced the deficit on the stroke of half-time.

That came after Manuel Akanji was forced to withdraw from the lineup through a warm-up injury, while Savinho left the pitch on a stretcher after the interval.

Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker, Rodri, Jeremy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne are the other first-team options out injured, and Guardiola cut a concerned figure at the full-time whistle.

"We are in a difficult position with the amount of players," the Man City boss told Sky Sports. "It is what it is. It is normal. The limit of players is there.

"We will see on Thursday [for Savinho's injury]. Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker [have] no chance to play the next games."

City hold a one-point lead over Liverpool at the Premier League summit before the champions visit Bournemouth on Saturday.

Guardiola was, at least, encouraged by the performances of his youngsters, with James McAtee and Nico O'Reilly both starting at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

"Exceptional. The young players did well," he added. "They are so fast, and I am really pleased.

"If you play a game that quickly, they attack quicker. Of course, in the second half, there were transitions. They could have finished the game.

Guardiola opted to leave Erling Haaland on the bench throughout, suggesting it was not worth risking City's key talisman.

"The plan was not to play today," Guardiola confirmed on Haaland. "We have not had much recovery, and it was a waste of energy."

Girona swept past fifth-division side Extremadura with a 4-0 win to reach the Copa del Rey second round on Wednesday.

A depleted Girona were missing 13 players due to injuries but had no problems beating lowly Extremadura thanks to a brace by Bojan Miovski and goals from Bryan Gil and Arnau Martinez.

Girona manager Michel had to call up seven academy players for the trip to Badajoz and had more bad news as striker Arnaut Danjuma was forced off with a leg injury.

Gil opened the scoring with a strike from the edge of the box in the 12th minute, however, to ease any concerns for the LaLiga side.

Miovski's header in the 58th minute saw Girona extend their lead and the Macedonian forward scored the third four minutes later before Martinez completed the rout from long range.

Eddie Howe hopes Newcastle United "feel a bit better about themselves" after booking their place in the EFL Cup quarter-finals with a 2-0 victory over Chelsea.

The Magpies claimed only their second victory in seven matches across all competitions, with Alexander Isak and an Axel Disasi own goal sending them through to the last eight.

Howe's side were beaten 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Sunday, and the head coach was pleased with his players' response against the same opposition three days on.

"[A] really good performance tonight, especially in the first half," he told BBC Radio 5 Live. 

"We got our pressing attitude bang on and got a lot of regains high up the pitch, which is where the first goal came from. [I am] delighted with the contribution from the whole squad.

"You always learn from every game and try to put things into practice in the next match. I just felt there was a better feel in our out of possession delivery tonight. We were much better on the details and turning the regains into chances going forwards.

"[In the] second half, it wasn't an easy game to manage. They were bringing on some good players from the bench to add to the quality they already had on the pitch, but I thought we defended really well.

"This place is an amazing venue to play in and that was shown again tonight. Sold out, great atmosphere, good performance and I hope everyone feels a bit better about themselves now."

Meanwhile, Chelsea suffered only their second defeat in 11 games across all competitions, but Enzo Maresca was impressed by what he saw from the visitors, who had an xG of 1.97 over the 90 minutes at St James' Park.

"I think it worked if we analysed the performance. If we analysed the result, it didn't work," he told reporters during his post-match press conference.

"For 20 minutes until their goal, we were in control of the game. In the last 10 minutes of the first half, we had two clear-cut chances but didn't score. In the second half, we were in control of the game.

"We lost the goals because of 10 minutes. For the rest, we were quite good. We did very well tonight, but there are many things we can do better."

Brentford await Newcastle in the next round after the Magpies made the quarter-finals for a fourth time in the last five seasons.

Ange Postecoglou hailed Tottenham's EFL Cup fourth-round victory over Manchester City as his side continue to evolve under his stewardship.

Timo Werner and Pape Sarr were both on target in the first half on Wednesday, with Matheus Nunes reducing the deficit on the stroke of half-time.

Spurs held on against a much-rotated City side, who suffered their first defeat of the season after a 2-1 reverse in north London.

Tottenham disappointed in a 1-0 loss away to Crystal Palace in the Premier League before this win, though Postecoglou was delighted with his side's response.

"It's a cup tie played against a formidable opponent, I thought we did well for the most part," he told Sky Sports.

"We didn't allow too many clear-cut chances. We could have put the game away, but City are always going to push you.

"It's an ever-evolving process, this team is growing all the time, but when you have growth you are going to stumble.

"As disappointed as we were on Sunday I had great belief we could come out today and put up a great show.

"Both our goals were quality goals, they have to be as City don't give easy chances."

Spurs had been eliminated in their last three EFL Cup ties against fellow Premier League sides, going out to Chelsea in 2021-22, Nottingham Forest in 2022-23 and Fulham in 2023-24.

Werner eased any nerves after just five minutes, however, with his close-range finish easing the mounting pressure on the former Chelsea forward.

"Great for Timo. He is going through a tough time, but the build-up play was great," Postecoglou added.

"It should lift him, we are supporting him, but it is down to him and his approach to things. He was unlucky to not get one or two more, if attacking players don't score they feel anxiety a bit."

Postecoglou hammered his side after their collapse at the start of October in a 3-2 defeat to Brighton, and similar criticism followed after their defeat to Palace last time out.

The Australian coach is remaining level-headed, though.

"I don't believe in big moments or catastrophic moments - we are the same team that we were three days ago. Hopefully, we have more good days ahead of us," he concluded.

Shayden Morris' winner helped Aberdeen defeat Rangers 2-1 to maintain their unbeaten run and stay level on points with Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

The hosts took the lead through Nicky Devlin after 31 minutes at the Pittodrie Stadium before Nedim Bajrami's individual brilliance saw Rangers back on level terms 18 minutes into the second half.

Celebrations soon resumed in Aberdeen as substitute Morris crashed in the winner 11 minutes later.

Victory sees Jimmy Thelin's side move nine points clear of Rangers, who sit in third, as they remain level on 28 points with Celtic, only behind on goal difference.

Celtic continued to add to that superior goal difference with a 2-0 win over Dundee at Celtic Park.

Two goals inside 10 minutes in the second half from Alistair Johnston and Arne Engels gave them a routine victory to keep them unbeaten at the top of the table.

Tottenham will host Manchester United for a place in the EFL Cup semi-finals as the last-eight ties were confirmed on Wednesday.

Ange Postecoglou's side inflicted Manchester City's first defeat of the 2024-25 campaign with a 2-1 victory at home in the fourth round.

Timo Werner and Pape Sarr were both on target for Spurs, whose next test in the competition will come against United, who smashed Leicester City 5-2 to reach the next stage.

That victory marked Ruud van Nistelrooy's first game in interim charge after Erik ten Hag's dismissal on Monday, though Sporting's Ruben Amorim is expected to soon be appointed at Old Trafford.

Ten Hag ended a six-year trophy drought for United when winning the EFL Cup in 2023, leaving the possibility for Amorim to follow suit should he arrive and guide his side past Tottenham.

Arsenal will also meet London rivals Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium in another quarter-final tie.

Mikel Arteta's side eased past Preston North End in the fourth round, while Palace stunned Aston Villa with a 2-1 away win after Daichi Kamada's second-half winner.

Staying in London, Brentford sneaked past Sheffield Wednesday on penalties and will visit Newcastle United, who battled to a 2-0 home win over Chelsea to reach the last eight.

Defending champions Liverpool edged to a 3-2 win over Brighton, earning a quarter-final trip to Southampton after Russel Martin's side snatched a late 3-2 win over Stoke City on Tuesday.

All quarter-final clashes are set to be played across the week of December 17.

EFL Cup quarter-final draw in full:

Tottenham vs Manchester United

Arsenal vs Crystal Palace

Newcastle United vs Brentford

Southampton vs Liverpool

Cody Gakpo proved the hero for Liverpool as his two goals downed Brighton in the EFL Cup fourth round, though the forward still sees room for improvement.

The Netherlands international provided the Reds with some much-needed attacking force after the disappointing confirmation that Diogo Jota will be out until after the next international break.

Gakpo scored both his goals when cutting in from the left-hand side, before fellow winger Luis Diaz also got on the scoresheet.

Simon Adingra and Tariq Lamptey both scored late on to offer Liverpool a scare, though Slot's side held on for a 3-2 victory that sent them into the last eight.

However, Gakpo believes his match-winning performance could have been improved.

"I think two good goals, but I think maybe it should have been more, or maybe I get an assist as well." he told Sky Sports.

Liverpool fielded a young side at the Amex Stadium, with goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros and England Under-21 midfielder Tyler Morton among the starters.

Gakpo lauded the impact of an inexperienced side against Fabian Hurzeler's hosts.

"Very good. Morton, who doesn't start that often, started, then Trey [Nyoni] came in, and the goalkeeper obviously. I think they did fantastic," he added. 

"It's not easy if you don’t play that often, then suddenly have to play. Everyone did well, so really proud of them and really proud of the team."

Liverpool will face Southampton, who sneaked past Stoke City on Tuesday, in the quarter-finals, with Gakpo intent on chasing silverware with the Reds.

"Every competition you play in, you want to win," he continued. "So, [I am] very happy we went through and on to the next."

Unai Emery refused to blame his team selection as Aston Villa missed out on the EFL Cup quarter-finals after their 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace.

Villa were dumped out of the competition in the fourth round, as Palace stunned the home crowd with Eberechi Eze's headed opener.

Both Eze and Adam Wharton were forced off injured in the first half, during which Jhon Duran levelled proceedings, though Daichi Kamada slammed into the bottom-left corner from outside the box to snatch the win.

Leon Bailey, John McGinn and Diego Carlos were the only regular starters Emery fielded in a rotated lineup, though the Villa manager defended his decision after the full-time whistle.

"We started with 11 players who are in the first team," Emery told Sky Sports. "We started with Tyrone Mings and Diego Carlos, and they can play normally in the starting 11.

"We started with [Ian] Maatsen, [Boubacar] Kamara, McGinn, Duran and [Emiliano] Buendia. I don't know if I can have any regrets.

"Today, we competed and we lost, but we competed with the idea of players getting performances. Of course, we are frustrated, but if I repeated it again, I would play with the same players."

Oliver Glasner's Palace have struggled in the Premier League, leaving this result as somewhat of a surprise against Champions League opposition.

Victory came at a cost, however, as Eze limped off with a hamstring issue and Wharton suffered a groin problem.

"[We] started the game well," Glasner told Sky Sports. "The problem [with Eze] was his hamstring, and we don't know how serious it is.

"We concede and then have Adam's [Wharton] groin issue. [On Tuesday] he said he was fine, but his pain got worse. It's too early, but I am positive as it's nothing new. He has had groin problems for many months. 

"We thought he needed a break, but yesterday, he gave the thumbs up."

Timo Werner scored his first goal in seven months to help Tottenham eliminate Manchester City from the EFL Cup with a 2-1 victory in Wednesday's last-16 tie.

Both teams were left to count the cost of muscle injuries come full-time of an entertaining game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as Micky van de Ven hobbled off in tears and Savinho was also distressed as he went off on a stretcher.

Werner also sustained a knock that forced him off, but that was long after emphatically curling away from Stefan Ortega inside five minutes after being teed up by Dejan Kulusevski down the Spurs right.

Pape Matar Sarr tucked in a first-time finish of his own from outside the box to double the hosts' advantage 25 minutes later - an effort Ortega perhaps could have done better to keep out - but City finally woke up before half-time.

Savinho picked out Matheus Nunes to side-volley in at the back post and that set the tone for a gripping second period - one in which Erling Haaland watched from the substitutes' bench despite his side chasing a goal.

Ortega made three saves to keep City in the tie, with Richarlison failing to convert from a glorious position, and those misses so nearly proved costly in the closing stages.

Yves Bissouma brilliantly denied Nico O'Reilly on the line with quick reflexes, however, to ensure Ange Postecoglou remains on course for silverware in his second season at Spurs, while inflicting a first loss of the campaign on eight-time EFL Cup winners City.

Data Debrief: City can't handle Kulu

Tottenham had suffered elimination from their previous three EFL Cup ties against fellow Premier League opposition - against Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Fulham in the past three seasons - but they showed great resolve to overcome City.

Werner and Sarr scored the goals that sent Spurs through, both of those assisted by Kulusevski in a different manner. The Sweden international created four chances in total, which was double the number of any other home player.

Man City may have scored for the first time in four away games in the EFL Cup, but this marks their third successive away loss in the competition for the first time since August 1997.

Newcastle United booked their place in the EFL Cup quarter-finals with a 2-0 victory over Chelsea at St James' Park.

Eddie Howe's side struck twice in the space of three first-half minutes through Alexander Isak and an Axel Disasi own goal, which proved enough to seal their progress.

Just three days after Chelsea overcame Newcastle in the Premier League, Joelinton struck the post from an Isak cross early on Wednesday, while Renato Veiga's shot deflected narrowly wide at the other end.

Newcastle broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute when Chelsea were caught in possession at the back, with Sandro Tonali finding Isak, who calmly slotted past Filip Jorgensen.

Isak was involved again when he latched onto a quickly taken free-kick before his deflected cross was helped on by Joe Willock, before Disasi turned the ball into his own net just three minutes later.

Chelsea looked to respond and controlled large periods of the second half as Joao Felix went closest to scoring when he chipped marginally wide in the 75th minute.

William Osula almost added a third for Newcastle following a swift counter that culminated in the substitute striking the post, but the two-goal cushion was sufficient enough to get the Magpies over the line.

Data Debrief: Magpies march into another quarter-final

Newcastle find themselves in extremely familiar territory, after progressing to their fourth EFL Cup quarter-final in the last five seasons.

The Magpies' only win from their previous six matches across all competitions came against AFC Wimbledon in the previous round, but they upset the form book here.

Now unbeaten in each of their last 12 EFL Cup matches when scoring first, Howe's side condemned Chelsea to only a second defeat in 11 games.

Manchester United breezed into the EFL Cup quarter-finals with a 5-2 win over Leicester City, as Ruud van Nistelrooy's first game in interim charge ended in victory.

Erik ten Hag was sacked on Monday with assistant Van Nistelrooy stepping into a caretaker role, with United expected to soon appoint Sporting's Ruben Amorim as their permanent boss.

Van Nistelrooy's tenure got off to an encouraging start with Casemiro's long-range finish into the top-right corner after just 15 minutes, before Alejandro Garnacho scored from Diogo Dalot's cross 13 minutes later.

Bilal El Khannouss scrambled a strike past Altay Bayindir to reduce the arrears in the 33rd minute, though Bruno Fernandes restored the hosts' two-goal advantage with a deflected free-kick effort soon after.

Casemiro then hammered home a rebound from close range just three minutes later, before Conor Coady again reduced the deficit on the stroke of half-time when capitalising on a loose ball to convert.

Fernandes doubled his own tally and extended United's lead just past the hour, rounding Danny Ward to cap the rout following a poor pass backwards by Caleb Okoli.

Data Debrief: Familiar failure for Foxes

Van Nistelrooy was always expected to have the Old Trafford crowd on side, owing to his playing days at the club, and Leicester struggled to get going at a place they have struggled in recent times.

The Foxes have now lost 12 of their last 15 away games at United in all competitions (won one, drawn two), while the Red Devils have managed seven victories in their last eight home games in this competition (lost one).

It proved to be a convincing win as well, with United accumulating 2.95 expected goals (xG) to Leicester's meagre 0.99.

Arsenal eased their way into the EFL Cup quarter-finals after a dominant 3-0 away victory over Preston North End on Wednesday.

Paul Heckingbotton's Championship side proved no match for the Gunners at Deepdale, where Gabriel Jesus opened the scoring after 24 minutes when sweeping home Jakub Kiwior's headed assist.

Jesus turned into the creator just nine minutes later, sliding inside towards the edge of the area before teenager Ethan Nwaneri curled a stunning left-footed attempt into the top-left corner.

Left-back Kiwior grabbed another assist with a delightful delivery after the interval, leaving Kai Havertz with a simple header past Freddie Woodman just before the hour.

The Preston goalkeeper denied Raheem Sterling twice in quick succession soon after, before Stefan Thordarson almost turned into his own net when attempting to clear Arsenal's set-piece routine.

Nwaneri then rattled the crossbar with an ambitious effort as Arsenal cruised into the last-eight draw before Saturday's Premier League trip to Newcastle United.

Data Debrief: Gunners fire past another challenger

Since losing 3-0 to Sheffield Wednesday in October 2015, Arsenal have won all 12 of their EFL Cup matches against sides from outside the Premier League by an aggregate score of 41-5.

The Gunners added another emphatic away victory here to that streak, which also includes a 4-0 win at Nottingham Forest in 2016 and a 6-0 thrashing of West Brom at the Hawthorns in 2021.

For Preston, it was a further disappointment as they lost in the fourth round for an eighth occasion – they have played the most games in the competition without ever featuring in the quarter-final stage (185).

Cody Gakpo scored twice as Liverpool beat Brighton 3-2 in a thriller at the Amex Stadium to book a place in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup.

The Dutchman's unstoppable strike 38 seconds into the second half gave the holders the lead in Wednesday's tie, and he added a second just after the hour mark.

Luis Diaz restored Liverpool's two-goal cushion after Simon Adingra pulled one back, only for Tariq Lamptey to net another for Brighton in a gripping finale, but the visitors held on for a 12th win in 14 games under Arne Slot.

Vitezslav Jaros was handed a full Liverpool debut as both sides made eight changes ahead of facing each other in the league in three days' time, and the goalkeeper produced a good save to deny Tariq Lamptey from the best chance of the first half.

After an ultimately goalless opening 45 minutes, it took Gakpo less than a minute to open the scoring after the restart as he cut in from the left and curled the ball out of Jason Steele's reach from just inside the box.

After Jaros produced a fine save to push Adingra's header onto the post, and Liverpool completely wasted a three-on-one counter, Gakpo drilled a second past Steele at his near post after outmuscling Lamptey.

Adingra set up a nervy finale when reacting quickest to a spilt Jaros save, which the Reds reacted to with Diaz's well-taken strike inside the box, but that was only a temporary reprieve.

However, Lamptey's goal - via a deflection off Jarell Quansah - proved to be nothing more than a consolation for Brighton as they fell just short of a dramatic comeback.
 

Data Debrief: Gakpo keeps up impressive record

Gakpo had scored more EFL Cup goals than any other player (six) since the start of last season heading into Wednesday's action and added two more to his tally.

That brace ensured Liverpool made it three wins from three against Brighton in this competition, the previous two victories coming in 1985-86 and 2011-12.

As a result, the Reds avoid becoming the fourth successive holders of this cup to exit at the fourth-round stage.

Davide Frattesi scored twice and Lautaro Martinez added a third as Inter eased to a 3-0 win at 10-man Empoli on Wednesday.

Inter's victory at Stadio Carlo Castellani sees them close the gap on Serie A leaders Napoli to four points.

Empoli faced an uphill battle when Saba Goglichidze was shown a red card for a studs-up high challenge on Marcus Thuram after half an hour, and Inter made the extra man count in the second half.

Frattesi found the net five minutes after the break and doubled Inter's lead in the 67th minute, before Martinez rounded off the win 11 minutes from time, stretching Empoli's winless run to five games.

Inter, now unbeaten in five league games, remain second in the standings with 21 points, behind Napoli on 25 after their 2-0 win at AC Milan on Tuesday. Empoli remain 11th on 11 points.

Data Debrief: Inter register another Empoli shutout

Inter have now kept a clean sheet in their past 10 away games against Empoli in Serie A, extending the record for one club against another in the competition's history.

Frattesi was the star performer for the visitors with his double, making him the highest-scoring Italian midfielder across Europe's top five leagues for club and country this season with six goals to his name.

Inter did well to keep out Empoli, who have failed to score in 10 of their past 15 home games in Serie A - the worst return of any side in the league.