Leicester City vs Wolves

Sunday August 11 at 9 am ET on CNBC

The Foxes won the first meeting between the two last year 2-0, but Wolves punished them late in their last match to win 4-3. With Wolves returning from duty in Romania on Thursday, what kind of foe will we face?

Leicester City

After an undefeated pre-season the Foxes look to start a more positive regime under new manager Brendan Rodgers. Although his defense will have to overcome the loss of Harry Maguire to Manchester United, the boss clearly feels comfortable with his options at CB.

Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images

Who will start next to Jonny Evans? Çağlar Söyüncü started in the last match against Atalanta and has to be the favorite to get the nod on Sunday. Wes Morgan is still at the club but surely is only reserved for emergency reasons, and I don’t believe Filip Benković is fully recovered to start in the Premier League. Keeping the ball away from Wolves is my prescription for keeping a clean sheet.

Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images

Wolves

Last year’s final Europa League spot winner has had their fair share of meaningful matches this pre-season and that’s my main concern going in to match day one. They scored four on Thursday in Romania, and despite the short turnaround, they brought in some cover before the transfer window shut.

Photo by Sam Bagnall - AMA/Getty Images

The Europa League has not been kind to teams outside the “top six” in past seasons so it will be interesting to see how Wolves will do with Thursday night matches as the season progresses. I think they will be motivated to have a strong start in both competitions.

Match Prediction

Leicester have to start this season with a win if the new era is to start on solid foundation. I for one don’t want to see the feel good factor around Rodgers and the team fade before it really gets going. Fortunately, I think Leicester will do just that by beating Wolves 3-1.