Pre-season friendly preview and odds: Celtic vs Leicester City

International Champions Cup

Football
Published: 21/07/2016

Pre-season friendly preview and odds: Celtic vs Leicester City

July 23, 2016 17:30am - Celtic Park

International Champions Cup

The European section of the International Champions Cup gets underway on Saturday as Premier League champions Leicester City make the short journey north to face reigning Scottish League champions Celtic.

Scottish and English champions go head-to-head in ICC tournament

Brendan Rodgers did not have the best of starts to his career north of the border as he led his team to an unexpected defeat against the Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar in the first leg of their Champions League qualifying campaign.

However, things picked up in his second match in charge as Celtic edged to a 2-1 friendly victory at home to Wolfsburg. They followed that up with a 3-0 win in the second leg of their match against the minnows from Gibraltar.

The Northern Irishman and his team will now face an even sterner test as they line up against the reigning Premier League champions in Glasgow on Saturday.

The Foxes got their own pre-season campaign off to a winning start with a 2-1 victory away to Oxford United. As league champions, they now find themselves looking forward to friendly matches against the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona.

With both sides looking to retain their league titles against potentially much stiffer competition than last year, this pre-season tournament against Europe`s elite could provide a vital benchmark for their respective bosses. While, Claudio Ranieri is trying hang on to his best players amid much speculation and big money offers, Brendan Rodgers knows that he must strengthen his squad if he is to see off the challenge of arch-rivals Rangers, who have returned to the top flight.

Team news

Both teams should field strong line-ups as they look to build momentum in this tournament. Leicester City`s new signings Ahmed Musa, Luis Hernandez and Ron-Robert Zieler all impressed on their debut appearances and could feature once again.

Celtic could hand another start to new boy Moussa Dembélé, who will be looking to improve on his debut performance in Gibraltar. Kristoffer Ajer could also be in line for a start after impressing against Wolfsburg.

Recent form (All competitions)

Celtic: WLDWW

Leicester City: WDWDW

Betting odds and tips

After a stumbling start under Brendan Rodgers, Celtic seem have got themselves back on track and will certainly make life hard for the Foxes. A full house can be expected at Celtic Park and that should help the Glaswegians.

Leicester may take the chance to give playing time to their new signings including new arrival Nampalys Mendy, while Jamie Vardy continues his post-Euro 2016 recovery. However, Riyad Mahrez could feature despite rumours surrounding his future at the club.

With strong line-ups expected on both sides, this should be a close but Leicester look good value at 6/5.

You can back Leicester City to win at 6/5 with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Go To bet365
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Any odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of publishing (21/07/2016) but are subject to change.

21/07/2016     © Frixo 2024

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