Sevilla vs. Leicester City: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info for UCL Tie

Leicester City will attempt to salvage their disappointing season on Wednesday, as the English champions travel to Spain to take on Sevilla in the UEFA Champions League.

The Foxes have lost four of their last five matches across all competitions, while Sevilla remain in the thick of the race for the top four in La Liga and a ticket to next year's Champions League.

The hosts are the clear favourites entering the first leg of this round-of-16 tie, but Leicester have little else left to play for this season and will give it their all in Andalusia.

Date: Wednesday, February 23

Time: 7:45 p.m. GMT

Venue: Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Seville

TV Info: BT Sport 2 (UK), Fox Sports 1 (U.S.)

Live Stream: BT Sport app, Fox Soccer 2Go

Team News

Per Richard Forrester and Sam Green of The Sun, Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri has confirmed Islam Slimani could miss out on the fixture with a groin injury. The Algerian also didn't feature against Millwall in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday.

Leonardo Ulloa is also a doubt with a thigh injury, per the report.

For Sevilla, Benoit Tremoulinas and Michael Krohn-Dehli remain long-term absentees. Per the club's official Twitter account, defender Nicolas Pareja is closing in on a return to the starting XI:

Possible Sevilla XI: Sergio Rico, Sergio Escudero, Adil Rami, Clement Lenglet, Mariano, Steven N'Zonzi, Vicente Iborra, Vitolo, Samir Nasri, Franco Vazquez, Stevan Jovetic

Possible Leicester XI: Kasper Schmeichel, Christian Fuchs, Robert Huth, Wes Morgan, Danny Simpson, Marc Albrighton, Danny Drinkwater, Wilfred Ndidi, Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy, Islam Slimani

Preview

To say Leicester's Premier League title defence has been underwhelming would be an understatement. The Foxes are going through a disaster of a season, and while the group stage of the Champions League went well for Ranieri and his troops, they're widely expected to crash out of the competition against Sevilla.

Aitor Alcalde Colomer/Getty Images

Back-to-back-to-back winners of the UEFA Europa League, the Spaniards are in the middle of a fine season. Sevilla sit third in La Liga, just two points behind Barcelona and within reach of leaders Real Madrid, who have two matches in hand.

In Europe, the Andalusians played out two close matches with Juventus in the group stage, and if not for several magical saves from Bianconeri stopper Gianluigi Buffon, they would have won their section.

Per the Foxes' official Twitter account, Ron-Robert Zieler knows things won't be easy:

While former Premier League star Steven N'Zonzi often takes the headlines, Sevilla's attacking form has stood out the most of late. Franco Vazquez was one of the top bargain signings during last summer's transfer window, and Stevan Jovetic has been spectacular since joining the club on loan from Inter Milan in January.

The oft-injured Montenegrin has three goals and three assists for Sevilla already despite appearing in just seven matches―and only four of those were starts.

Sports writer Sid Lowe is a fan:

The Foxes have lacked the energy and explosiveness that made them such a great outfit last season, and against a Sevilla team that is tactically diverse, scores easily and has an exceptionally talented midfield, that could prove a major problem.

Leicester fans should hope but not expect too much. This Sevilla team is among the best in Europe right now, and things could get ugly on Wednesday.

Prediction: Sevilla 3-0 Leicester City