Thursday, 9 August 2012

Leicester City v Sunderland - Preview

Leicester City host Sunderland on Saturday in the final pre-season fixture for both sides.

The game at the King Power Stadium against the Premier League visitors will give fans the best indication yet as to who will be in the starting XI against Peterborough when the league campaign starts next week.

The match also sees the return of City legend Martin O'Neill, who returns to Leicester as manager of the Black Cats.

O'Neill spent five years at Filbert Street, where he established City in the Premier League with four consecutive top half finishes and won two League Cups before leaving for Celtic in 2000.

However, there will be no room for sentiment as both O'Neill and City boss Nigel Pearson look to finalise their teams preparation for the new season

Although results aren't the priority during pre-season, the Foxes have had mixed fortunes. A 4-1 win at Hinckley was followed by a 2-0 defeat at League One Shrewsbury. City returned to winning ways as they beat Burton Albion 3-1 at the Pirelli Stadium, before beating Lincoln City 5-0 in a rearranged behind closed doors friendly at the King Power Stadium.

This week, a Leicester City XI largely made up of fringe players and youth prospects played two games. The annual Westerby Cup Winners' Cup match saw a young City side lose 1-0 at Loughborough Dynamo, but a more senior side including the likes of Jermaine Beckford, Neil Danns and Danny Drinkwater overcame Nuneaton 3-1 a day later.

All the senior members of the squad are expected to feature on Saturday as they aim to get more game time under their belts. Sean St. Ledger is definitely out after picking up a knee injury in the win at Burton which will keep him out for six to eight weeks, while new signing Zak Whitbread remains a doubt.

Fellow summer signings Ritchie De Laet, Matt James, Jamie Vardy, Marko Futacs and Anthony Knockaert are all set to make their home debut.

Sunderland, who finished 13th in the Premier League last season, have also had an inconsistent pre-season in terms of results, only winning one game against Dutch side FC Groningen 3-2. On Wednesday, the Black Cats played Derby County at Pride Park and were held to a 1-1 draw.

Seb Larsson, John O'Shea and James McLean are all exptected to feature after recently returning from international duty at Euro 2012, but Phil Bardlsey and Stephane Sessegnon are both doubts.

New signing Carlos Cuellar is also expected to feature as O'Neill's men play their last pre-season game before visiting Arsenal in their first game of the Premier League season on Saturday.

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