Leicester City vs Oud-Heverlee Leuven

Leicester City and Oud-Heverlee Leuven are set to trade tackles in only their second-ever meeting at the LCFC Training Ground Match Pitch 1.

Leicester City’s road to recovery following an abysmal 2022/23 Premier League season, which saw them relinquish their top-flight status only seven years since lifting the league crown, started on the front foot as they ousted lower-league Northampton Town 1-0 in their opening summer friendly. New boss Enzo Maresca stretched Leicester’s unbeaten streak to three games (W2, D1) on his touchline debut, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Conviction has been a premium commodity for the ‘Foxes,’ with each of those three matches featuring a full-time margin of under 1.5 goals. Scoring first should boost the English side’s hopes of staying the course, considering three of their last four outings have seen one or both sides fail to find the net.

On the other hand, Oud-Heverlee Leuven’s pre-season has reached advanced stages, with Marc Brys’ side going from strength to strength after a disheartening 10th-place finish in last season’s Belgian Pro League. Indeed, except for a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Genk a fortnight ago, they have won their remaining five pre-season friendlies by an aggregate score of 22-1, including a 5-1 humbling of fellow Belgian rivals Beveren last time out. Another high-scoring fixture could be on the cards, as Leuven’s only previous exhibition match against Leicester yielded an emphatic 3-3 scoreline last summer. Leuven will be confident about holding up their end of the bargain after bagging 3+ goals in seven of their nine most recent outings.