Let the Premier League Begin!

Leicester finish preseason with a win – Match report by Matt Ballard.

As it was the final preseason before the curtain raiser next week, manager Brenden Rodgers led with arguably the strongest available team against a Sevilla side still in pre-season mode. The only noticeable absentee was Kasper Schmeichel not starting with a rumoured move to Nice surrounding him; another player also shrouded in transfer news is James Maddison. The winger, wanted by Newcastle, started, clearly showing City have no intentions of letting the midfielder leave.

The Foxes started strong, with both Harvey Barnes and Vardy seeing chances go begging, before Sevilla, fresh from a 6-0 hammering against Arsenal yesterday, slowly started clawing their way back into the game. Iversen provided a wonderful double save to prevent the Spanish side from opening the scoring.

The primary concern will be the fitness of Ricardo. The Portuguese international missed most of last season through injury. The foxes’ defence were noticeably worse during his absence last season and were in the bottom half for goals conceded, albeit most of them were from set pieces.

Leicester was well on top, and their continued dominance finally paid dividends when Dewsbury-Hall scored a deflected effort with just over 20 minutes to go.

Although it could have been a more comprehensive win, the main goal would have been players’ fitness and getting the player’s match ready with a week to go until the premier league season starts, amid a hectic schedule up until the world cup in November.

The Foxes open the season at home to Brentford, where they will be looking for a repeat of the victory they got at the back end of last season.