Leicester kickstart Championship campaign with M69 derby against Coventry
LEICESTER, ENGLAND - MARCH 03: Lloyd Dyer of Leicester City and Cyrus Christie of Coventry City in action during the npower Championship match between Leicester City and Coventry City at The King Power Stadium on March 03, 2012 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images)

Leicester City mark their return to the Championship with a highly-anticipated encounter with Midlands neighbours Coventry City at the King Power Stadium. 

New manager Enzo Maresca will be looking to win a large portion of the fans over by picking up all three points against the Sky Blues in the first M69 derby in 11 years.

The former Manchester City assistant manager will be eyeing up the Foxes' opening fixtures, with Leicester being dealt a favourable first five.

Their first away day of the season is to Yorkshire to face Huddersfield Town, before welcoming Cardiff City to the King Power Stadium. The Foxes round out August with an away trip to face relegation favourites Rotherham United.

November looks set to be a key month for Maresca's men as they face three of the promotion favourites in a row, as a trip to Teesside to face Middlesbrough is sandwiched between home fixtures with Leeds United and Watford.

Leicester will travel to Portman Road to face newly-promoted Ipswich Town on Boxing Day, which may induce memories of a previous Christmas encounter in Ipswich when the pitch was covered in a blanket of snow.

The Foxes will bring in 2024 with a flurry of home fixtures as they face Huddersfield at home on New Year's Day and Ipswich and Swansea City later in the month.

Sandwiched in between the January fixtures is the small matter of the reverse of the M69 derby against Coventry.

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Nigel Pearson will welcome his former club to Ashton Gate on Good Friday, while the Foxes welcome Norwich City on Easter Monday.

Leicester round out the season with a home fixture against Blackburn Rovers, with Foxes fans hoping that will already be pencilled in as trophy lift day.

Fixtures in full

August

Sunday, August 6 – Coventry City (h) 

Saturday, August 12 – Huddersfield Town (a) 

Saturday, August 19 – Cardiff City (h) 

Saturday, August 26 – Rotherham United (a) 

September

Saturday, September 2 – Hull City (h) 

Saturday, September 16 – Southampton (a) 

Wednesday, September 20 –Norwich City (a) 

Saturday, September 23 – Bristol City (h) 

Saturday, September 30 – Blackburn Rovers (a) 

October

Wednesday, October 4 – Preston North End (h) 

Saturday, October 7 – Stoke City (h) 

Saturday, October 21 – Swansea City (a)

Tuesday, October 24 – Sunderland (h) 

Saturday, October 28 – Queens Park Rangers (a) 

November

Saturday, November 4 – Leeds United (h) 

Saturday, November 11 – Middlesbrough (a) 

Saturday, November 25 – Watford (h)

Wednesday, November 29 – Sheffield Wednesday (a) 

December

Saturday, December 2 – West Bromwich Albion (a) 

Saturday, December 9 – Plymouth Argyle (h) 

Wednesday, December 13 – Millwall (h) 

Saturday, December 16 – Birmingham City (a) 

Saturday, December 23 – Rotherham United (h)

Tuesday, December 26 – Ipswich Town (a)

Friday, December 29 – Cardiff City (a)

January

Monday, January 1 – Huddersfield Town (h)

Saturday, January 13 – Coventry City (a)

Saturday, January 20 – Ipswich Town (h)

Saturday, January 27 – Swansea City (h)

February

Saturday, February 3 – Stoke City (a)

Saturday, February 10 – Watford (a)

Tuesday, February 13 – Sheffield Wednesday (h)

Saturday, February 17 – Middlesbrough (h)

Saturday, February 24 – Leeds United (a)

March

Saturday, March 2 – Queens Park Rangers (h)

Tuesday, March 5 – Sunderland (a)

Saturday, March 9 – Hull City (a)

Saturday, March 16 – Southampton (h)

Friday, March 29 – Bristol City (a)

April

Monday, April 1 – Norwich City (h)

Saturday, April 6 – Birmingham City (h)

Tuesday, April 9 – Millwall (a)

Saturday, April 13 – Plymouth Argyle (a)

Saturday, April 20 – West Bromwich Albion (h)

Saturday, April 27 – Preston North End (a)

May

Saturday, May 4 – Blackburn Rovers (h)