Leicester 1, ZTE 0, positives and negatives, player ratings and match report, Pre-Season fixture

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Leicester travelled to Hungary to play ZTE in their third pre-season friendly. The first game under new manager Marti Cifuentes. Of course excitement before the game to see what type of line-up’s were picked. There are so many players at the club at the moment that you surely have no real clue at this point.

As expected it was a 4-2-3-1 set up, based on what Leicester have played over a long period of time. A few adjustments from manager to manager, but surely known to all of the players. The structure is very much the same. The starting line-up was a bit surprising. This strongly indicates that nothing is settled regarding anything at this point.

Ben Nelson and Mads Hermansen were not in the squad for todays game. They are both in the pre-season group travelling to Austria. Coady and Faes building up the central defence. Jacub Stolarczyk in goal. Luke Thomas and Hamza Choudhury filling the full back roles left and right. Skipp and Winks combined in the middle, with Bilal in front of them. Monga, Daka and McAteer were the other players in the starting line-up.

30 degrees Celsius is very hot, so you need to adjust. To play with high press and aggression in this conditions will be very difficult. ZTE is a team in the top flight of Hungarian football. They finished in the lower end of the table last season, just to save themselves for relegation. ZTE were unbeaten in their pre-season games until today. They had previously played four friendlies, won all four. They were against Hungarian, Slovenian and Ukranian opponents.

Bilal El Khannouss took controll, Jeremy Monga also had a good half, trolling a bit on the flank. Luke Thomas rushed forward and left his area when Leicester had the ball, but he was more pushing forward than to take a role in the midfield. Playing Hamza Choudhury in the right back position.

Leicester did not create much first half, but they kept controll. Harry Winks and Oliver Skipp is not the perfect duo in midfield as none of them has that energy to run distances needed to set the opponents under enough pressure.

Leicester were level at first half, making 10 changes for second half. Pereira, Justin, Okoli and Vestergaard in the back four. Ndidi and Soumare in the midfield, Alves in front of them. Mavididi, Ayew and Evans up front. Stolarczyk played the full game.

A City pre-season win 👏#ZLGLEI pic.twitter.com/IaxG0qdWKb
— Leicester City (@LCFC) July 19, 2025

This group of players coming on second half made a very solid impression. They put the opponent under pressure. A real dominating every minute of the second half. The quality in passing from the back enhance in major numbers having Jannik Vestergaard in there. Him and Caleb Okoli looked a very strong partnership.

Stephy Mavididi made good impact as he challenges his opponent straight away. He has more power in his movement. Will Alves also showed promise in passing and movement. Jake Evans need more time, but him and Alves knew for certain they were getting less minutes. They were out there for a short time, but still must be thrilling to get the chance. Page and Fatawu coming on.

Wilfred Ndidi and Bouba Soumare are a more balanced in midfield. We did see a different Leicester team when this duo came on. They pushed ZTE backwards and in the 70th minute Jordan Ayew scored with a quality finish from inside the penalty area. Jordan also scored vs. OH Leuven. He can be that striker option, having Patson Daka as a cover.

Leicester pushed for more. Early on second half Wilfred Ndidi had a major chance to score.

A good start for Marti Cifuentes, pulling off a 1-0 win. The third pre-season match, all so far ending in wins.

Leicester will be in action again on Friday the 25th of July. There are two games scheduled on the day. It’s not yet easy to say were Leicester will play their strongest team. Lviv and Koln are both strong opponents.

Positives
- Lining up two different elevens, giving minutes to 23 players.
- Some really good performances, liked the partnership between Okoli and Vestergaard
- Vestergaard making fantastic passes from the back, surely he will be of great importance
- Bilal and Monga both looked strong first half
- Jacub Stolarczyk making a solid impression, keeping a clean sheet
- Fatawu back in action for Leicester, great and fantastic
- Marti Cifuentes coming home with a win in his first game
- Jordan Ayew again on the scoresheet with a nice goal
Negatives
- First half not really having enough pressure to penetrate
- It was hot and that made it impossible to play with the pressure we will see going forward

Line Up 1:
Stolarczyk 6, Coady 6, Thomas 6, Choudhury 6, Faes 6, Skipp 5, Winks 6, Bilal 7, Monga 7, Daka 4, McAteer 5
Line Up 2:
Stolarczyk, Justin 6, Pereira 6, Vestergaard 8, Okoli 7, Ndidi 7, Soumare 6, Alves (Page), Evans (Fatawu), Ayew 7, Mavididi 6