Wanya Marçal & Wilfred Ndidi

Villarreal Provide An Early Pre-Season Test

Leicester City’s pre-season stepped up a gear on Saturday with a behind-closed-doors training match against Spanish side Villarreal CF in Évian-les-Bains.

The Foxes have spent the past week in the eastern French commune as Steve Cooper’s men continue their preparations for the new Premier League campaign.

The opening-weekend visit of Tottenham Hotspur may be a month away, but there has been little rest for the City squad following their return to Seagrave last week.

A programme of testing and early training was completed in the UK before their departure for Évian on Monday, where temperatures have hit 30 degrees Celsius.

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Will Alves

Academy graduate Will Alves on the ball in Évian.

Their stay on the continent came to a close this weekend with a rewarding exercise against 2021 UEFA Europa League winners Villarreal.

While building match fitness remains the objective at this stage, it was the perfect opportunity for players to make a positive impression on the new Manager and his coaching team following their arrival at the Club last month.

There were two 60-minute matches, including water breaks due to the heat, with different XIs taking to the field for each match-up against the competitive Yellow Submarine, in order to get match action in the tank.

It ended in a 2-1 success for City, with Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi on the scoresheet for the Foxes at this early stage of the summer schedule.

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Jamie Vardy & Abdul Fatawu

Celebrating Jamie Vardy's goal in the pre-season match.

Leicester will now return to the UK and they are due in Shrewsbury on Tuesday for an open pre-season friendly against the Sky Bet League 1 Shrews.

That fixture at The Croud Meadow is a 7:45pm BST kick-off and you’ll find updates from Shropshire across @LCFC social channels on the evening.

Once that task is completed, the Foxes will tackle Palermo in Chesterfield (Friday 26 July), before travelling to Augsburg (3 August) and Lens (10 August).

For more on City’s pre-season, make sure to check back to the LCFC App, LCFC.com and our @LCFC social media feeds for updates as the new season approaches.

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