Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s friendly clash between Shrewsbury Town and Leicester City, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Following a brief yet successful stopover in France, Leicester City endeavour to make it two for two in pre-season when they tackle Shrewsbury Town at New Meadow on Saturday evening.
Steve Cooper got off to a winning start in the Foxes chair with a 2-1 victory over Villarreal on Saturday, while their hosts succumbed to a 2-0 loss to Birmingham City over the weekend.
Match preview
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Three different Leicester players found the back of the net on Saturday, as Cooper took charge of his inaugural non-competitive match for the Foxes in the French commune of Evian-les-Bains, where Villarreal would provide a stern test in unrelenting temperatures.
While Harry Souttar registered an unfortunate own goal, his blushes were spared by two attackers at opposite ends of the experience scale, as Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi registered across two 60-minute matches to get the Foxes up and running.
With a few weeks remaining before Leicester make their eagerly-awaited return to the Premier League, Cooper’s squad have now returned to British shores for meetings with Shrewsbury and Italian outfit Palermo, although it will not be too long before they board their next flight.
Indeed, Cooper’s squad head to Germany for an exhibition battle against FC Augsburg on August 3, seven days before making a swift return to France and clashing with Ligue 1 upstarts Lens in their closing pre-season friendly.
Tottenham Hotspur then seek to test Leicester’s Premier League mettle – and that of ex-Nottingham Forest boss Cooper – in their first game back in the big time, arguably making Tuesday’s friendly the most winnable fixture that the Foxes will have for circa one month.
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Gearing up for a 10th straight season of League One football, Shrewsbury will aim to make it third time lucky in terms of pre-season friendlies, having only earned one draw and one defeat from their opening two pre-season battles thus far.
One week after a 1-1 draw with Brackley Town – where only an own goal spared their blushes against the National League North side – Paul Hurst‘s men were condemned to a 2-0 loss versus Birmingham on July 20, as their new third-tier rivals struck either side of half time through Jordan James and Lukas Jutkiewicz.
The scoreline did not tell the full story, though, as Shrewsbury duo Jordan Shipley and George Lloyd both had strikes ruled out for offside, but Hurst’s men are now just one loss away from a streak of 10 winless games in competitive and friendly matches combined.
The visit of Leicester represents the second of three straight matches that Shrewsbury will play in front of the New Meadow crowd, as the hosts will also take on Derby County on July 27 before a two-game road trip to meet AFC Telford United (July 30) and Oldham Athletic (August 3).
Regular opponents in the 1980s – when they both plied their trade in League Division Two – Leicester and Shrewsbury have not crossed paths in a competitive match since the second round of the 2014-15 EFL Cup, where Riyad Mahrez was part of a Foxes side that suffered a shock 1-0 loss at the King Power Stadium.
Shrewsbury Town friendly form:
Leicester City friendly form:
Team News
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A quartet of Leicester players who turned out for their countries at Euro 2024 will not be back in action at Meadow Lane, including Mads Hermansen and Jannik Vestergaard (both Denmark), Wout Faes (Belgium) and Yunus Akgun (Turkey).
With Hermansen still enjoying his holidays, Danny Ward guarded the sticks against Villarreal, where Harry Winks – who has lost his erstwhile midfield partner Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – also appeared.
New signing Caleb Okoli will likely be given the nod in defence once more, but Bobby Decordova-Reid should not be making his debut just yet following his involvement in Jamaica’s Copa America campaign.
As far as Shrewsbury’s availability is concerned, luckless left-back George Nurse – who has suffered two ACL injuries over the past two years – is finally on the mend and completed 68 minutes of the defeat to Birmingham over the weekend.
Harrison Biggins, Lloyd, Toto Nsiala and Tommi O’Reilly were among the new recruits to start that two-goal defeat as well, but with Toby Savin – the only goalkeeper in the squad – lacking fitness, two trialists rotated in between the sticks.
Savin will not be able to face Leicester either, Hurst has confirmed, and it remains to be seen if experienced striker John Marquis is ready for his debut following his recent arrival from Bristol City.
Shrewsbury Town possible starting lineup:
Trialist; Hoole, Feeney, Nsiala, Pierre; Thompson-McKenzie, Perry; O’Reilly, Bloxham, Shipley; Lloyd
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Ward; Cover, Souttar, Okoli, Justin; Ndidi, Winks; Fatawu, Marcal, Mavididi; Vardy
We say: Shrewsbury Town 0-3 Leicester City
With such a thin squad at his disposal, Shrewsbury boss Hurst will have no choice but to field some jellied legs on Tuesday evening, not to mention an unknown trialist in between the posts.
As a result, the hosts could be picked off by their Premier League-bound visitors, and a straightforward Leicester success is the only outcome we can envisage.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.