Preview: Leicester City vs Sheffield Wednesday - prediction, team news, lineups

Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday will take to the field at the King Power Stadium on the opening weekend of the Championship this Sunday, despite fears the game may not go ahead.

The big story in England’s second tier ahead of the new campaign has been regarding Wednesday’s plight, with off-field concerns putting the club's future in some doubt.

Match preview

The shameful running of the club by Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri has continued to cause huge issues at all levels, with the vast majority of the playing and managerial staff leaving this summer.

Not only are the players behind on their wages, but staff up and down the club have not been paid for last month, and that led to the club pulling out of a friendly against Burnley last week.

Manager Henrik Pedersen, who replaced Danny Rohl last month, is expected to have as few as 15 senior players available to him this weekend, but thankfully, club icon Barry Bannan has signed an extension, putting the club before himself, when many have jumped ship.

Despite the chaos going on behind the scenes, the Owls supporters are still expected to fill the 3,300 allocation at the away end of the King Power this weekend, despite few giving the team any chance at all of being competitive.

Wednesday have only played friendlies behind closed doors to prepare for the new season with their threadbare squad, but they all ended in victory, against Manchester City’s Under 23s, York City and Mansfield Town.

First up will be a devilishly difficult task against a Leicester side dropping down from the Premier League.

However, even though the Foxes will receive parachute payments during the season, they have very little wiggle room to work in regarding transfers, due to financial issues of their own which could still result in a points deduction at some stage this season.

The home faithful will be glad that results surely cannot get any worse than last season, where the 2016 English champions were relegated with 25 points from 38 games, and a record-breaking run that saw them lose nine straight home games in the league without scoring.

A good omen for the upcoming season is that they won their final two home games against the two clubs that were relegated with them, Southampton and Ipswich Town, suggesting they will be much more competitive back at this level.

There has been another change in the dugout, with Ruud van Nistelrooy eventually being relieved of his duties, and replaced by Marti Cifuentes, who managed Queens Park Rangers last season.

Ahead of their return to the second tier, Leicester have had a comprehensive pre-season schedule, losing to Koln, but winning their other five friendlies, against Peterborough United, OH Leuven, Zalaegerszeg, Karpaty Lviv and Fiorentina.

Leicester City Preseason form:

W W W W L W

Sheffield Wednesday Preseason form:

W W W

Team News

For the first time in 13 years, Leicester will begin a new season without Jamie Vardy being part of the furniture, as the club legend departed following their relegation from the Premier League.

Off-field problems mean the Foxes have been unable to add much to their squad this summer, but there have been other notable outgoings, such as Conor Coady to Wrexham, while Mads Hermansen is on his way to West Ham.

Danny Ward and Daniel Iversen have also departed the club, so that leaves just Jakub Stolarczyk and veteran Asmir Begovic to battle for the number one jersey at the King Power this season.

With only 15 senior players available to choose from, Wednesday manager Pedersen has his hands tied about who to select for this league opener.

Across the summer, 19 players have departed the club at varying levels, with the most notable being Djeidi Gassama, who did at least recoup some money from Rangers.

Bannan, who is approaching 500 appearances for the club, signed a contract extension last weekend and should feature in midfield, having been a beacon of light during a very dark time for the club.

Leicester City possible starting lineup:

Stolarczyk; Choudhury, Okoli, Vestergaard, Thomas; Skipp, Soumare; El Khannouss, Mavididi, Fatawu; Ayew

Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:

Charles; Valery, Palmer, Otegbayo, Johnson; Chalobah, Ingelsson, Bannan; J Lowe, Ugbo, Cadamarteri

We say: Leicester City 3-0 Sheffield Wednesday

With barely a team to choose from, and the majority of their defence out injured, it is impossible to see how Wednesday can compete with Leicester here, even though their remaining squad players should put up a good fight.

Leicester have retained a lot of the players who were relegated last season, and even though they were not good enough for the Premier League, they are certainly capable of performing down in the second tier.

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