We are back. 11 weeks on from the end of our remarkable first season back in the top flight, it all gets underway again this weekend with our trip to Leicester City on Sunday.

The Foxes will be looking to build on an eighth-placed finish last time round while we ended six points and five places below them in 13th.

Get all the build-up to our season opener below.

THE OPPOSITION

Leicester City have been regulars in the top-half of the Premier League in recent years, reeling off five straight top-nine finishes, but it has been a quiet summer so far at the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes are the only side in Europe’s top-five leagues not to have made a signing, something boss Brendan Rodgers says is needed to balance the books, and look to be facing a fight to keep some of their star performers. Club Captain Kasper Schmeichel completed a move to OGC Nice earlier this week, ending an 11-year association with The Foxes, while James Maddison, Wesley Fofana, and Youri Tielemans are all attracting the attention of other Premier League clubs.

All this shouldn’t detract from another fine season for The Foxes last time round. Rodgers side lifted the Community Shield in August, finished eighth in the Premier League, and reached the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.

The ageless Jamie Vardy once again led their Premier League scoring charts with 15 goals in 25 league appearances. At the other end of the age scale, last season saw the establishment of young talents such as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, James Justin, and Luke Thomas within the Leicester starting XI.

Defensively, Leicester will be looking to tighten up from set-pieces this campaign. No side in last season’s top-flight conceded more shots from set-pieces (176) or goals (19) than The Foxes.

THE GAMEPLAN

Jordan Blackwell of Leicestershire Live gives us the lowdown on Brendan Rodgers’ likely team selection: “With the amount of players Leicester have available, it will be a 4-3-3. In the middle there will be a sitting midfielder like Wilfred Ndidi and then the other two central midfielders will be box-to-box No. 8s, which is likely to be Maddison and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, unless Youri Tielemans comes in and Maddison is pushed over to the right.

“Harvey Barnes, if he's fit and available, will play on the left and Jamie Vardy will be up front. Defensively, it’s very likely to be Timothy Castagne and James Justin as the full-backs and Jonny Evans and Wesley Fofana at centre-back. I don’t think the talk around Fofana and Chelsea will affect Rodgers’ selection plans”

TEAM NEWS

Ethan Pinnock (knee) does not have a return date yet while Sergi Canós and Kristoffer Ajer (both hamstring) are due to make their comebacks later this month.

For Leicester City, Ricardo Pereira is set for an extended spell on the side-lines with an Achilles injury while Harvey Barnes (knee) will also miss our opener. Ryan Bertrand is also out but Danny Ward came through a behind-closed-doors game in mid-week.

THE MANAGER

Brendan Rodgers was forced to retire from playing due to a knee condition at the age of 20, but the playing game’s loss was coaching’s gain. The Northern-Irishman went straight into Academy coaching with Reading where he remained until Jose Mourinho and Chelsea came calling in 2004. Following four years at Stamford Bridge, firstly as Youth Manager, and then Reserve Manager, Rodgers took the main job at Watford in 2008.

Success wasn’t immediate with Watford, or subsequently with Reading, but it was at Swansea where Rodgers really started to make an impact. He led the club to promotion to the Premier League through the 2010/11 Play-Offs before guiding them to finish 11th the following season. There then followed three trophy-less years at Liverpool, although Rodgers and The Reds were a late-season collapse away from winning the 2013/14 Premier League.

Heading to Celtic in May 2016, Rodgers led Celtic to an undefeated domestic season in his first year, and trebles in both of his first two seasons. He left Celtic for Leicester City in February 2019, finishing fifth in his first full season and winning Leicester’s first-ever FA Cup the year after.

OPPOSITION VIEW

Brendan Rodgers told lcfc.com: “[Brentford is] Always a difficult game. We won the games last season but they were tough. They’re well-coached, and well-organised. Thomas has done a fantastic job there. It was a period last year when we played them last year where there was concern if they would remain in the league, but they finished the season very well”

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Jarred Gillett

Assistant Referees: Harry Lennard and Steve Meredith

Fourth Official: David Coote

VAR: Graham Scott

Assistant VAR: Simon Long

Born on the Gold Coast, Australia, highly-rated A-League referee Jarred Gillett emigrated to England in 2019 to study at Liverpool John Moore’s University, specialising in research on children with Cerebral Palsy, going on to make his EFL officiating debut in April of that same year.

Sunday’s game will be Gillett’s fourth game in charge of us, with two wins and one defeat coming from the previous three. He took charge of our 2-1 Sky Bet Championship victory over AFC Bournemouth in December 2020 and then returned to take the 3-1 Play-Off Semi-Final victory over the same opponents the following May.

Gillett made history in September last year becoming the first overseas official to referee a Premier League match when he took charge of Watford vs Newcastle United, the month before he took charge of our home defeat to Norwich City at Gtech Community Stadium.

LEICESTER CITY LAST SEASON

356 fouls – Third fewest in Premier League

55 yellow cards – Fourth fewest in Premier League

1 red card – Joint fewest in Premier League