West Brom v Leicester: The inside track on Albion's Premier League opening opponents
West Brom take on Leicester City in their Premier League opener this weekend in their long antiticated return to the top flight - get the inside track on them here.
We spoke with Krys Moson from @First4LCFC, to get a proper look at The Foxes.
See what he had to say here:
How has pre-season treated Leicester City, have the Foxes had a good build-up to the new campaign?
I think I am probably speaking on behalf of most football fans in saying that this pre-season really has not felt like one at all!
Personally, because of the way last season concluded, this does not even feel like a new season – it feels like the old one is going to continue to rumble on.
In regard to our pre-season, it’s been far from re-assuring.
We beat Birmingham and drew with Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn.
A lack of transfer activity, injuries to key players and the unusual international break have not given Foxes fans a clear indication on how we are looking going into this new campaign.
Obviously, there was some disappointment in the way Leicester ended last season, do you think there will be any kind of hangover at the club?
I have this dull feeling going into the new season. Normally the start of the season is full of excitement and hope, but this year I feel apprehensive.
Admittedly this is largely down to the lacklustre end to last season, mixed with a [so far] disappointing transfer window and some really average pre-season displays.
What sort of transfer business have Leicester conducted so far this summer heading into the PL opener?
This is nice and easy for me to answer.
We have signed Timothy Castagne from Atalanta of Serie A. In all honesty I knew very little about the Belgium international before he joined, but by all accounts, he is a versatile full-back who can play both sides and comes with European experience which is handy ahead of our Europa League adventures this year.
This will now be our third Belgian in the squad, joining teammates Youri Tielemans and Denis Praet.
In terms of notable outgoings we have sold Ben Chilwell to Chelsea as I’m sure everyone is aware!
Brendan Rodgers has had some time to really mould this Leicester squad now, what sort of football can we expect to see from them this season?
Interesting question, as it appears that we may be in somewhat of a tactical transition going into 2020/21. The new style will look to be a three at the back with two full-backs pushing on for width.
Since Riyhad Mahrez left we have really struggled to replace him with a tricky winger and this looks like a ship that has now sailed with Rodgers looking to play more of a possession-based game through the centre of the park with wide-options potentially coming off the bench.
Are there any injury issues heading into the game?
We will be without our attacking minded full-back Ricardo, and it looks like James Maddison will also have to sit out the season opener, with Jonny Evans also serving a three-match suspension for a red card at the end of last season vs Man Utd.
What's your predicted XI for the match?
In all honesty, there are about ten possible permutations going into this match. I wouldn’t even want to hazard a guess.
Schmeichel in goal, Soyuncu at CB, Ndidi in the middle and Vardy up-top is a core I definitely anticipate.
What have you made of West Brom's promotion, do you think they'll have what it takes to stay up in the top flight this season?
Growing up I always associated WBA with a gritty Tony Pulis side. It’s fair to say that times have changed and Slaven Bilic has you guys playing a really slick style of football.
Naturally, I will draw comparisons to the same being said about Norwich when they came up ahead of last season, and we all know how that ended.
However, with Bilic’s Premier League experience I expect you guys to be a lot tighter at the back and with some extremely handy players going forwards, most notably Grady Diangana and Matheus Periera, I expect you guys to have enough to certainly compete against most mid-table sides in this division.
Your match prediction?
I have got to be optimistic, regardless of how downbeat I may have sounded throughout the rest of this piece.
I am going 0-2 Foxes, with Jamie Vardy bagging. He loves a goal at your place after all.
Just a shame there is no crowd to rustle, albeit I still think he will make a point should he score!