Club Friendlies: Game Week 1
Stadium: Esh Group Stadium
26 July, 2024
Leicester City will go head to head with Palermo at Esh Group Stadium in the Club Friendlies. Leicester won both friendlies so far this summer. Who will come out on top after 90 minutes?
Claim Your Welcome Bonus!Leicester City form
Leicester's recent three-goal display against Shrewsbury brought back thoughts of their very first friendly, earlier this summer against Villarreal. On both occasions, Stephy Mavididi and Jamie Vardy played main protagonists to secure the win, although it was harsh on Harry Souttar and Caleb Okoli to add an element of theatre to proceedings with unfortunate own goals. Despite the misfortune of Okoli, Kasey McAteer hit back for Leicester, and they had another impressive win under new head coach Steve Cooper. The team has few friendlies left in its pre-season build-up; thus, Cooper is trying to weld more than 20 talents from the Premier League into a single unit. That is the kind of game against Tottenham Hotspur on August 19, something Cooper believes to be a big hurdle in domestic football.
Predicted Lineup for Leicester City
Ward; Pereira, Okoli, Souttar, Justin; Winks, Ndidi; Fatawu, McAteer, Mavididi; Daka
Palermo Form
Unlike their English rivals, Palermo failed to promote back into the top flight in 2023-24 as the formerly prestigious Italian club finished sixth at the end of the regular season, missing out in the playoffs. They lost to Venezia in the semi-finals, who win the last Serie A spot. Alessio Dionisi is the new manager. Having led Empoli to the Serie B title, he now leads Palermo after previous coaches Eugenio Corini and Michele Mignani. He had a previous unsuccessful stint at Sassuolo, where he was fired after poor results and relegation, but Dionisi's start at Palermo has been a mix of results. The team lost to Rapperswil-Jona but recovered with a win at Monza, with Federico Di Francesco scoring the only goal.
Palermo Predicted Lineup
Gomis; Jensen, Gomes, Lucioni; Diakite, Saric, Ranocchia, Buttaro; Insigne, Di Francesco, Brunori
Leicester City vs Palermo Expert Tips
Leicester and Palermo have enjoyed some competitive friendlies this summer. In the case of the Foxes, they are currently preventing any teams from scoring, yet own goals from their own defenders have allowed the opposition to score. That said, the fact that Palermo is not a strong attacking force should mean that Leicester can enjoy a third consecutive win providing they avoid once again scoring at the wrong end.