On Sunday afternoon, Leicester City defeated Fiorentina 2-0 in their last friendly of the preseason schedule. This was another encouraging outing for the Foxes. Although, this particular article doesn't focus on match play exactly, nor performance. But don't worry, we have you covered in that respect too, of course. This piece is actually about what we learned and can now deduce from Marti Cifuentes' final starting lineup. And we noticed a few startling things from the East Midlands team's XI versus Viola at King Power Stadium.
Brief match update
As I say, City did beat the Italian outfit albeit in a non-competitive match. So some promise exists under Cifuentes, I'm happy to report. Abdul Fatawu started and scored a marvellous goal. Jordan Ayew netted the other for LCFC; the Ghana international's offseason has been impressive, to be fair.
Startling things we noticed from Leicester City's starting XI vs Fiorentina
Though some people would have been surprised to see Ayew start as City's main man. I mean, before I swiftly speak of Patson Daka, the club should have signed another striker as soon as Jamie Vardy left.
Our final pre-season XI 📋#LEIFOT pic.twitter.com/FVfXVi5jFO
— Leicester City (@LCFC) August 3, 2025
While the Foxes suffer from a lack of organisation, this leaves Daka as the only truly recognised, senior centre forward on Filbert Way. Ayew can and does play there, though he isn't a specialist. However, the Zambian might be out of favour under yet another manager.
The most surprising aspect of the Catalan's selection was the sudden inclusion of Mads Hermansen from the beginning. The goalkeeper from Denmark hasn't appeared in any practice matches so far this summer.
This could also be an indication that Hermansen isn't leaving. On the contrary, he could be being covertly deployed in the shop window like Conor Coady. It's hard to tell.
What we must declare is that Ben Nelson and Wout Faes could lose out to Jannik Vestergaard and Caleb Okoli. Another bombshell. Can we also hope that Bilal El Khannouss might be kept and other less worthy footballers may be sold?!