Leicester City rounded-off a successful training camp in southern Spain with an entertaining 3-3 draw against Spain top-flight side Malaga in the scorching Marbella heat.
Russell Martin’s men controlled portions of the game and could have been 3-0 up in the first half with Will Alves and Stephy Mavididi missing chances, only for Louis Page to open the scoring directly from his corner.
Malaga brought on their strongest XI for the second half and laid the pressure on, forcing Jakub Stolarczyk into two quickfire saves. Goals from Chupe and Aaron Ochoa put the La Liga side ahead with two well-taken goals in front of a large following.
The hydration break in the second half was a turning point for Leicester with Martin turning to his bench and tweaking some of his instructions (see below) and they soon found themselves back ahead.
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Woyo Coulibaly met the ball nicely on the edge of the box to make it 2-2 but Martin’s pressing principles came out in full force with Lorenz Hutchinson nicking the ball high and assisting for Tommy Neale.
The 100% record in pre-season wasn’t to be maintained though, with xxx equalising with the last kick of the game after a rapid counter-attack.
Leicester now return to England before their open training session on Friday and final pre-season game against Genoa at the King Power Stadium. Here, Josh Holland takes you through his takeaways from the thrilling spectacle in Spain.
Two starters guaranteed
For the third game in a row, Stephy Mavididi and Will Alves started on either wing against Malaga – they started in the second XI vs Cadiz.
Both have shown glimpses of quality in pre-season. Mavididi scored in the win over Northampton, got into some dangerous positions against Burton Albion and delivered the ball for Kirsten Otchere to score on Wednesday night. Alves has been one of the most eye-catching players in pre-season, standing out wide and centrally.
In the first-half, both wingers were quality and had opportunities to score. Mavididi finally started to play with confidence by beating the full-back on three different occasions, using his electric pace and power to leave the defender chasing his shadows.
Alves was denied from close range by goalkeeper Carlos Lopez and was inches away from doubling Leicester’s lead after latching onto a through ball inside the box. They were quiet after the break before Alves eased the pressure on City’s backline with a teasing run down the left.
Martin has confirmed he wants to add a new face to either wing this summer, as a priority, but Alves and Mavididi are appearing to be two players set to start in the first game of the season.
Striker profile identified
Unlike previous fixtures, Kirsten Otchere wasn’t involved for City in all phases of play. The 19-year-old came short and linked up play with the two eights well at times, but he failed to get any sniffs of action close to goal and was a passenger as Malaga piled the pressure on after the break.
Bobby De Cordova-Reid replaced the teenager and played as a versatile centre-forward. The Jamaican dropped deep when Chaplin roamed forward and got into some dangerous positions inside the box, his inclusion definitely added something different.
It was a different throw of the dice by Martin, who has usually turned to Nathan Opoku throughout the summer schedule, but the 24-year-old missed the trip due to a tight back. Reid’s combination play with Conor Chaplin and Tommy Neale helped Leicester build-up and somewhat dominate Malaga following the hydration break.
Reid’s experience and quality as a creative outlet is something that could help Leicester throughout the season, but a centre-forward is at the top of James McCarron’s list and it’s becoming clear what sort of profile is needed.
City’s striker needs to be comfortable in dropping deep into the middle third, be able to bounce the ball wide, drive into space and be clinical in front of goal. Other traits such as working in tight areas to combine with the attacking 8s, being a presence in the box and pressing aggressively.
Set-pieces actually work..
When Andrew Hughes joined the club and was appointed as set-piece coach in 2024, you would have expected a drastic change in City’s set-piece goals. They scored 14 last season and conceded 20, which aren’t terrible numbers, but it isn’t a secret that they barely looked dangerous when attacking and always appeared nervous when defending.
There is no set-piece coach at the club anymore and Hughes has landed a remarkable job at Athletic Bilbao. Yet Leicester have been more threatening from set-piece deliveries throughout pre-season and on Saturday night, they benefitted twice.
Page’s opener was no luck, the delivery was executed to drop on top of Carlos Lopez with numbers around him. For Coulibaly’s goal, Chaplin’s delivery from the right wasn’t dealt with, the ball came off Riley Carr and Coulibaly slammed it home.
Inbetween the two goals, Neale nearly perfectly replicated Page’s goal with a right-foot delivery off the left, but the ball was parried away before it went over the line.
With the height of players currently at the club, it’s another route that Martin’s men could benefit from.
You can take things from pre-season
Even after yesterday’s 3-3 draw, Leicester are in a good place. The saying that you shouldn’t, or can’t, take anything from pre-season only really applies in results. But performances, attitude, mentality and character can all be assessed.
The friendlies have all provided City with various tests, something that Martin has praised the scheduling with. Malaga was by far the toughest opponent yet, which in itself was a challenge, but that first part of the second half really demanded the players to go to a place they haven’t been under the new manager.
Malaga got on the ball constantly, switched play from left to right, created overloads and pressed with intent from the first minute after half-time. Leicester did struggle with all of these things and were fortunate to only be 2-1 down after Stolarczyk’s double save and Chupe hitting the post.
But the players showed personality and resilience to stick together, responding with their own tactical tweak. The drinks break gave Martin the chance to change some things, one of the most influential alterations being Hamza Choudhury filling in as the six, with Neale’s energy a bonus alongside Chaplin.
There was also renewed energy out wide with Riley Carr and Lorenz Hutchinson getting behind Malaga’s defence. The pair also pressed very well, the latter forcing an error for Leicester’s third.
Academy stars not making up the numbers
Throughout pre-season, we have come away from every friendly with praise for a couple of the academy players. Against Northampton it was Will Alves/Bade Aluko, Bristol Rovers was Sammy Braybrooke/Kevon Gray, Burton Albion was Riley Carr and Cadiz was Jayden Joseph.
On Saturday, Hutchinson, Carr and Neale all came on when City were under intense pressure. Martin has been consistent with his message about every youngster getting the opportunity to stamp their mark and they are doing that.
The game in Marbella showcased once again that these academy players are putting in the work to be part of the squad for the League One campaign. And the senior players are clearly big fans of their talent.
For City’s third goal, when Hutchinson pinched the ball off the Malaga defender and opted to square it across for Neale, instead of giving it to Reid. Neale scored and Reid immediately turned to Hutchinson, pointed at him as if to say ‘that’s come from you’. That was a nice moment.
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