Leicester City's opening-day fixture against Brentford set to be moved

Leicester City’s opening Premier League fixture is at risk of being pushed back a day to avoid a clash with the city’s Caribbean Carnival.

City’s schedule for the new season was published on Thursday, with Brendan Rodgers’ side drawn at home to Brentford for their curtain-raiser. With the TV games already selected for the opening weekend, City were set for a 3pm kick-off on Saturday, August 6.

However, the city’s annual Caribbean Carnival has already been organised for the same day, and it is understood the club are preparing for their fixture against the Bees to be pushed back to Sunday, August 7. The clash has occurred with the Premier League season starting a week earlier than usual to accommodate the World Cup in Qatar in November and December.

It is not the first time the Caribbean Carnival has impacted City fixtures. In 2019, the club planned a pre-season friendly against French side Nice, but knowing they could not host the game at their own ground on the first Saturday of August, they sought a different venue. In the end, the friendly did not go ahead.

The Caribbean Carnival is running for the first time in three years having been cancelled over Covid fears in 2020 and 2021. It will be an all-day event, with a fair in Victoria Park and then a parade through the streets of Leicester from 1pm. Policing concerns and congestion in the city will be factors in why both events cannot take place at the same time, with up to 80,000 people potentially in attendance for the Carnival.

If pushed back to Sunday, August 7, it is likely that kick-off at the King Power Stadium will be at 2pm. Non-TV matches on Sundays traditionally take place at the same time as the first televised fixture, which this year is Manchester United