Leicester started their pre-season match campaign today in a friendly vs. Villareal. Leicester got a perfect start under Steve Cooper winning 2-1, goals from Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi.
Leicester took the lead in the 25th minute, Jamie Vardy the goalscorer, assisted by James Justin, played through with a nice long ball from Harry Souttar. An own goal from Harry Souttar did see Villareal coming even after 30 minutes.
Leicester made a number of substitutions after first half and gave minutes to grand group of players. Stephy Mavididi scored the goal in the 80th minute, to see Steve Cooper winning his first game in Leicester management, which is always a positive.
Watching the clips coming through from the Villareal X account, we did see a number of players in action, including new signing, Caleb Okoli. Abdul Fatawu were given minutes. Jamie Vardy captained the side from start, looking at it, Harry Winks also had the captains armband during the game. James Justin were among the starting players. Daniel Iversen kept Leicester in the game with some marvelous saves, coming in for Danny Ward, who was the starting goalkeeper. Harry Souttar was in the starting line-up, as well as Wilfred Ndidi, and of course minutes to Conor Coady.
There were little or few updates from the Villareal X account, but still we believe this must have been a good days work for the players in action. Villareal fielded a competitive team, as names in their line-up included top scorer Alexander Sorloth and captain on the day, veteran defender Raul Albiol. Danish U.21 international goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen started the game, he was in action in 28 La Liga league games last season. Argentina international Juan Foyth, previously with Spurs, also got his minutes. Former Watford defender Kiko Femania was also seen in the starting line-up. Parejo seen in the starting line-up, so this must be one major win to count for Leicester.
The group of players in the Leicester travelling party, looking at the different updates, includes four goalkeepers, Stevie Bauser, Brad Young, Danny Ward and Daniel Iversen. Uncertainty regarding the absence of Jacub Stolarczyk. Mads Hermansen is absent due to his involvement in the Euro’s. Defenders on the trip are, Ricardo Pereira, James Justin, Harry Souttar, Conor Coady, Ben Nelson, Luke Thomas and Caleb Okoli. Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard and Victor Kristiansen were missing as they all featured in the Euro’s. Midfielders, Harry Winks, Brandon Cover, Logan Briggs, Hamza Choudhury, Wilfred Ndidi, Will Alves, Michael Golding, Bouba Soumare, Sammy Braybrooke, Forwards, Jamie Vardy, Patson Daka, Tom Cannon, Kasey McAteer, Stephy Mavididi, Abdul Fatawu, Silko Thomas and Marcal Madivadua.
Late Saturday evening a short report from official sources, made the sofascore.com update highly doubtful, having Conor Coady as goalscorer, he was assisting, according to the pictures, as Stephy Mavididi scored the second for Leicester. Still a very small and minor update and no real information, no line-up’s, nothing. playing against a team that could be the best opponent in this pre-season campaign. Villareal announced their team and had a full update on their X account, so a bit of info coming from there.
A new update later from Leicestershire Live, came with some interesting facts and figures. Starting the game were Danny Ward, Brandon Cover, Harry Souttar, Caleb Okoli, James Justin, Harry Winks, Wilfred Ndidi, Abdul Fatawu, Wanya Marcal, Tom Cannon, and Jamie Vardy, with Will Alves substituted on. For the second hour, the line-up was Daniel Iversen, Ricardo Pereira, Ben Nelson, Conor Coady, Luke Thomas, Hamza Choudhury, Boubakary Soumare, Kasey McAteer, Michael Golding, Stephy Mavididi, and Patson Daka, with Silko Thomas brought on later. The game was played in 30 minutes intervalls, giving 24 players game time. Stevie Bauser, Sammy Braybrooke, Logan Briggs and Brad Young were not given minutes. Leicester looked a 4-4-2 set up, having flying wingbacks coming up and forward.
Villareal later gave new updates on highlights from the game, of course nice to look at, getting a view on everything that happened.
- Positives
- Steve Cooper starting with a win against a very competitive opponent
- Jamie Vardy given the captains armbind, coming from the game with a goal
- Good performance from Daniel Iversen, some qualified saves
- Stephy Mavididi on the scoresheet, winning the game for Leicester
- Negatives
- No official updates during the game, just a late report with no special points to look for
Player Ratings: –
- Leicester City, Man of the Match
- –
Match Stats (H/A)
- Possession: –
- Shots on Target: –
- Corners: –
- Fouls: –
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