Cadiz 0, Leicester 1, Positives and Negatives, Player Ratings and Match Report, Pre-Season Friendly

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The fourth game of pre-season, this time giving the captaincy to Olabade Aluko. Fielding Alex McCarthy in goal for his first game, having Faes, Souttar and Ali in the defensive positions. Hamza Choudhury, Tommy Neale and Conor Chaplin in midfield. Up front, Lorenz Hutchinson, Jake Evans and Riley Carr.

Leicester started well and nearly scored early, but Riley Carr missed an open goal by hitting the ball too hard, causing it to go wide.

The game faded for Leicester as Alex McCarthy had to make several saves. The defense was shaky, especially on the left side, where young Mirsad Ali lacked support in various situations. Wout Faes also struggling to decide what to do with the ball in very difficult situations.

This back four was a new combination of players. Conor Chaplin also doing his first game for Leicester, showing he has a bit of work to do to get up to the standard we know he can be at.

Cadiz is a step up in quality from the teams Leicester have played previously, being a second level team in Spain. They put Leicester under too much pressure in the first half, but luckily no goals scored from the yellow and blue.

A fourth win of pre-season so far 🤝#CADLEI | @BCGame pic.twitter.com/e9iNdq2TxB
— Leicester City (@LCFC) July 22, 2026

Russell Martin made a complete lineup change in the second half, bringing on players who had been playing together in pre-season games. This group put pressure on Cadiz right from the start of the half, looking much more solid.

Jacub Stolarczyk in goal, Jayden Joseph, Caleb Okoli, Ben Nelson and Luke Thomas in defence, Oliver Skipp, Louis Page and Sammy Braybrooke in midfield, Kirsten Otchere, Stephy Mavididi and Will Alves up front.

They looked a very solid unit, putting pressure on Cadiz, with Kirsten Otchere again impressive up front with his runs in the channels and silky touch as he again showed that he can be the player to call on leading the line, despite having no earlier experience from such a job in the Leicester first team.

Otchere came close early on with a good chance to score, but his touch was not accurate enough, seing the ball going wide. But then a few minutes later, in the 52nd minute, he finished a nice pass from Stephy Mavididi and scored with a clever header, scoring his third goal in pre-season.

Leicester dominated the game through out the second half, and the few Cadiz attempts was stopped from defenders or Stolarczyk in goal.

Leicester dominated the second half, great defensive work from Ben Nelson and Caleb Okoli performing well together.

Another win, another clean sheet, a good and solid performance from Leicester. New and tougher competition, playing Malaga, in Primera, on Saturday.

Positives

Another clean sheet, another win
61% ball possession, solid second half
Conor Chaplin and Alex McCarthy coming through with proper minutes played
The shape of the side coming on second half looks very good
Harry Souttar showing what a good defender he can be
Ben Nelson and Caleb Okoli also impressive in their partnership
Olabade Aluko captaining the side, also giving a good performance
Kirsten Otchere with his third goal in pre-season

Negatives

Riley Carr missing an absolute goal chance early on
First half performance, not really having the flow as we did see second half

Line Up:
McCarthy 7, Aluko 7, Souttar 7, Faes 5, Ali 4, Chaplin 5, Choudhury 5, Neale 5, Hutchinson 5, Evans 5, Carr 6, Subs: Stolarczyk 7, Joseph 6, Nelson 7, Okoli 6, Thomas 6, Braybrooke 6, Page 6, Skipp 6, Otchere 7, Mavididi 7, Alves 6