Key Leicester Games In 2022/23
Playing in front of the Blue Army on matchday one, the Foxes will be eager to get off to a good start, while there are plenty of other mouth-watering matches to come for Brendan Rodgers’ men…
The curtain raiser
Leicester City began last term with a 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Filbert Way and the 2022/23 Premier League campaign will also kick-off at King Power Stadium, against Brentford, on Sunday 7 August, 2pm BST kick-off.
Last season’s top-flight newcomers were beaten twice by the Foxes, but only by a single goal margin on both occasions. The FA Cup ties between the pair in early 2020 and 2021 were also close encounters, while Thomas Frank’s outfit will no doubt be keen to build on a solid maiden season at this level, finishing 13th and well clear of any relegation trouble.
The first away game
Rodgers’ side will then turn their attentions to travelling to face Arsenal in their second encounter on Saturday 13 August. Emirates Stadium, or indeed Highbury before that, has not been a happy hunting ground for City over the years.
That was until October 2020, when Jamie Vardy’s late strike sealed a first away victory at the Gunners’ home since September 1973 – ending a run of 27 games without a win across all competitions.
Following their trip to the capital, City play Southampton at home on Saturday 20 August, Chelsea away on Saturday 27 August and Manchester United at home on Tuesday 30 August, to complete their first five fixtures of the new season.
The local rival
Leicester’s Midlands neighbours Nottingham Forest were the final side to book their place in the 2022/23 Premier League, beating Huddersfield Town in the Championship Play-Off Final at Wembley Stadium after finishing fourth in the regular season.
Back in the top-flight for the first time this century, Forest will head across to King Power Stadium on Saturday 1 October, while the return fixture, at the City Ground, is pencilled in for Saturday 14 January.
Although Steve Cooper’s side got the better of City in the Emirates FA Cup last term, the previous league meeting between the pair ended in a 2-2 draw all the way back in February 2014. Three months later, the Foxes had sealed promotion to the Premier League as champions.
The title holders
Manchester City’s sixth and second successive Premier League crown followed an intense battle with Liverpool which went right down to the final minutes of the last game of the 2021/22 campaign.
Leicester’s own record versus Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering team is quite impressive, defeating the Citizens at Wembley last August to lift the FA Community Shield, a year on from a thrilling 5-2 success at Etihad Stadium in the Premier League.
Man City triumphed in both league battles last season, though, with the first 2022/23 meeting on Filbert Way on Saturday 29 October, before facing off in Manchester once more on Saturday 15 April.
The festive fixtures
The 2022/23 campaign will be paused to accommodate the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. This means City’s final Premier League game before Christmas Day will be matchday 16 on Saturday 12 November, visiting West Ham United at London Stadium.
The Premier League season will then resume on Boxing Day, eight days after the World Cup Final, with the Foxes set to play Newcastle United on Filbert Way.
Following this, City will travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool on New Year’s Eve, before starting 2023 with a clash at home to Fulham on Monday 2 January.
The run-in
Last season saw Leicester take 10 points from a possible 12 across the final four games, beating Watford, Norwich City and Southampton on the final day, either side of a credible draw at Chelsea to seal an eighth-place finish.
The final three fixtures of this campaign will see the Foxes host Liverpool on Saturday 13 May, head north to play Newcastle United away on Saturday 20 May and then face West Ham United at home on Sunday 28 May.
Click HERE for Leicester’s full 2022/23 Premier League schedule. Please note that fixtures are subject to change.