Leicester City welcome Brentford to King Power Stadium in an untelevised Super Sunday clash on the opening weekend of 2022-23 Premier League season.
Following an eighth-placed finish last season, Leicester will be eager to start this campaign with victory.
Brentford meanwhile managed a solid 13th-placed finish in their first Premier League season but will be looking to climb up the table this season, starting with an opening victory.
Team News
Ricardo Pereira is ruled out for Leicester for six months after suffering a rupture of his Achilles.
Ryan Bertrand and Harvey Barnes (both knee) are ruled out but Danny Ward (knee), Wesley Fofana (groin), Hamza Choudhury and Ayoze Perez (both illness) are set to be available.
Brentford will be without Kristoffer Ajer and Sergi Canos as the pair continue to recover from hamstring injuries.
Ethan Pinnock remains absent with a knee injury.
Summer signings; Aaron Hickey, Keane Lewis-Potter, Yehor Yarmolyuk and Ben Mee could be in contention for their debuts, whilst Thomas Strakosha could be on the bench as substitute goalkeeper.
Stat Attack
- Leicester have won each of their two previous Premier League meetings against Brentford (W2).
- Brentford have won just one of six previous visits to Leicester in all competitions (W1, D2, L3).
- James Maddison scored for Leicester in both meetings against Brentford last season (W2).
- Maddison has also scored in each of Leicester’s last four competitive matches (W3, D1).
- Thomas Frank’s Bees will be looking to make it two opening weekend victories in only their second Premier League season.
Prediction
Having failed to spend a single penny so far this summer and lost a loyal goalkeeper in Kasper Schmeichel, this game is going to be crucial in determining where Brendan Rogers’ squad stands if they’re to fight for European qualification this season.
My biggest issue concerning this game specifically though lies in their goalkeeping position with only Danny Ward and Daniel Iversen available, yet Ward is a doubt which could mean a rookie start for Iversen and extra work for defence to help limit how much pressure he faces in goal.
Brentford meanwhile enjoyed a solid debut Premier League campaign last season but their task now is to consolidate that progress, having held on to key players and added extra quality reinforcements to various appropriate positions which needed improvement.
Focusing on this game specifically, I am expecting a tough battle because both teams have the attacking quality to mount a decent fight, so a draw seems a fair bet especially given the Bees’ poor away record against the Foxes.
Prediction: Leicester 1-1 Brentford
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