Scunthorpe United vs Leicester City preview: Pre-season begins for the Foxes

Leicester City face Scunthorpe United in their first pre-season match as preparation for the new Premier League campaign fully begins.

The East Midlands side come into the game boasting three new players as James Justin, Ayoze Perez and last season's loan star Youri Tielemans all joined to help the club fight for a top six place this coming season.

Scunthorpe enter the game off the back of three pre-season victories against Dundee, Bottesford Town and Guiseley respectively as they look to return to League One following relegation last year.

Key Battle

Scunthorpe defender and captain Rory McArdle will be hoping to show his leadership qualities against Premier League opposition as the Iron look to keep their third clean sheet of their pre-season campaign.

Kelechi Iheanacho struggled for goals last season as his confidence seemed lacking in the final third of the pitch. The young Nigerian forward will be working towards a successful pre-season to put himself in contention for a starting spot over new signing Perez and the evergreen Jamie Vardy, and a goal in the opening game could go a long way in doing so.

Previous Meeting

Leicester last faced Scunthorpe in 2011 in a Championship clash that ended 3-0 to the Foxes.

Miguel Vitor scored two goals in the 31st and 72nd minute respectively before Kyle Naughton sealed the comfortable victory with a goal just four minutes later.

Leicester finished in 10th position that season, while Scunthorpe were relegated to the third tier after finishing bottom of the table.

Team News

Both Leicester and Scunthorpe are expected to make a number of changes during the match as players build up their fitness for the upcoming season.

New signings Justin and Perez could feature for the first time in a Leicester shirt, while Tielemans could make his first appearance as a permanent player for the Foxes.

Wilfred N'Didi and Islam Slimani are unavailable due to participation at the Africa Cup of Nations, while Harvey Barnes, James Maddison, Demarai Gray, Hamza Choudhury, Filip Benkovic and Alex Pascanu are yet to return to training after the U21 European Championships.

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