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

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

August 03, 2016 10:05am - Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden

International Champions Cup

After slumping to a 4-0 defeat to French champions Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday, things will not get any easier for Premier League champions Leicester City when they take on the might of Barcelona in Sweden on Tuesday evening.

Foxes take on La Liga kings in Sweden

The English and Spanish champions will go head-to-head on Wednesday as the International Champions Cup continues on European soil.

Leicester City`s pre-season campaign was going well until they came up against French champions Paris Saint-Germain in California at the weekend. Despite the continued absence of Jamie Vardy, Leicester fielded a strong line-up but fell to a disappointing 4-0 defeat. They must now take on a Barcelona side who have played just one match since beating Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final back in May.

That one game came against Scottish champions Celtic in Dublin at the weekend, with the Spanish side cruising to a 3-1 victory thanks to three first-half strikes from Arda Turan, Efe Ambrose (o.g) and Munir El Haddadi.

It has not been confirmed by Foxes` Head Coach Claudio Ranieri whether Vardy will make an appearance this week, but rivals Barcelona are expected to give more minutes to star players Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. With that in mind, it could be another tough night for the English side.

Team news

Barcelona can be expected to field a team made up of star name players such as Mathieu, Vidal, Turan, Messi and Suarez, and a handful of fringe players including Masip, Martinez, Camara, Roberto and Munir.

Leicester City could start with the same team that took on PSG with Schmeichel, Hernandez, Morgan, Huth, Chilwell, Mahrez, Mendy, Amartey, Schlupp, Ulloa and Okazaki all expected to play some part.

Recent form (All competitions)

Barcelona: WWWWW

Leicester City: LWWWD

Betting odds and tips

Leicester City`s newly-acquired status as English national champions has thrown up some tough pre-season fixtures. However, with Champions League football now on their agenda, these games will give them a good opportunity to gauge their level heading into the new season. The result against PSG was disappointing but Real Madrid also fell 3-1 at the hands of the French champions who seem a step ahead of everyone else in their pre-season preparations.

Barcelona hit the ground running when strolling to victory against Celtic, but they should expect a tougher challenge from the English champions. The Spanish side are favourites to win but Leicester City could grab a goal or two against an under-cooked Barca defence.

You can back Both Team to Score at 11/10 with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Go To bet365

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Barcelona v Leicester Live Betting Odds - Elite Club Friendlies

Home Win	4/11
Draw	9/2
Away Win	11/2

01/08/2016     © Frixo 2024