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Yahoo!-Eurosport continues its preview of England's top-flight clubs ahead of the 2008-9 Guinness Premiership.

LEICESTER

Coach: Heyneke Meyer

Ground: Welford Road

Last season: 4th (losing finalist)

Club captain: Martin Corry

Key players: Harry Ellis (scrum-half) and Lewis Moody (flanker)

Opening game: Gloucester (A) Sept 7

Prediction: Top four

Players in: Toby Flood (fly-half/centre) from Newcastle; Derick Hougaard (fly-half) from Blue Bulls; Julien Dupuy (scrum-half) from Biarritz.; Craig Newby (back row) from Otago; Santiago Bonorino (prop) from Capitolina; Ben Woods (flanker) from Newcastle Falcons

Players out: Paul Burke (fly-half) - retired; Matt Cornwell (centre) to Exeter Chiefs; Andy Goode (fly-half) to Brive; Frank Murphy (scrum-half) to Connacht; Ollie Smith (centre) to Montpellier; Ian Humphreys (fly-half) to Ulster; Christophe Laussucq (scrum-half) - retired; James Hamilton (lock) to Edinburgh; Alex Moreno (prop) to Calvisano; Dave Young (prop) to Gloucester; Luke Abraham (flanker) to Sale.

The Tigers have much to prove this campaign following the upheavals at the club last season. South African Heyneke Meyer has replaced Marcelo Loffreda as head coach as they seek to rediscover the form of 2006-7 and make amends for a trophy-less season.

Leicester may have reached two finals in 2007-8 but they lost both and clearly this does not meet the standards they set themselves at Welford Road.

Defence coach Neil Back and a large number of players have moved on, but the Tigers have recruited well over the summer. With fly-half and stalwart Andy Goode now at Brive, Leicester have turned to internationals Toby Flood and Springbok Derick Hougaard to lead tyheir backline.

They have added further depth to their back row as well, with All Black Craig Newby and Ben Woods arriving from Otago and Newcastle respectively.

More importantly, though, Leicester welcome back flanker Lewis Moody (pictured) following a season on the sidelines with an Achilles injury. Moody is a Tiger through and through and his experience and energy were clearly missed last season.

After further rehabilitation this summer, scrum-half Harry Ellis should again scale the heights he reached before his long-term knee injury and his partnership with Flood will be keenly monitored by England manager Martin Johnson.

Meyer was the first coach to lead a South African side to the Super 14 title when the Bulls won it in 2007 and will have a much better chance of fitting in at Welford Road than Loffreda had.

He speaks English for starters, and has the added benefit of beginning his job ahead of the season, unlike Loffreda, who came in after leading Argentina to third in the World Cup.

Meyer has a reputation as an innovative thinker and will add clarity to a Tigers' game-plan that was too often muddled last season.

Leicester are too big a club with too much talent not to again be challenging for honours this season. Expect a huge and relentless effort from the Midlands giants.

Terence O'Rorke / Eurosport