Brendan Rodgers confirms Ricardo Pereira fractured leg in horror Tyler Morton challenge
By Sean Walsh
Brendan Rodgers has revealed that wing-back Ricardo Pereira suffered a fractured leg as a result of a horror tackle from Tyler Morton in Leicester's EFL Cup loss to Liverpool on Wednesday.
The Portugal international was on the receiving end of a dangerous challenge from the teenager just before half time of the Foxes' eventual defeat, though were 3-1 up at Anfield at the time of the incident.
Leicester conceded two late goals as Liverpool took the tie to penalties, triumphing on spot kicks to book their place in the semi-finals against Arsenal.
Rodgers made several changes to his starting XI for Leicester's trip to Manchester City on Boxing Day, and revealed after the Foxes' 6-3 humbling that Pereira could miss the next two months of action.
"Ricardo Pereira will be [out for] six to eight weeks,” Rodgers said, via the Daily Mirror.
"That's so frustrating for him with how hard he has worked. For the referee not to see that, it's a fractured fibula and he's lucky it’s not worse."
This injury is the latest in a long line of setbacks for Pereira, who has missed much of this season with a hamstring problem and tore his ACL back in 2020.
Referee Andy Madley deemed Morton's challenge on Pereira worthy of a yellow card, and as VAR is not used in the Carabao Cup before the semi-finals, the midfielder escaped with a caution.
The tackle was similar to that of Harry Kane's on Andy Robertson in Liverpool's 2-2 draw at Tottenham days prior to the Leicester clash. That challenge received widespread attention and notable criticism from Reds staff and fans alike as the England captain too escaped with only a yellow card when a red would have seemed a fairer punishment.
Leicester have a chance to avenge their Carabao Cup defeat when Liverpool make the trip to the King Power Stadium in the Premier League on Tuesday night.