Louis Deacon returns to skipper Leicester against London Irish, who make only one change.
At Welford Road, Saturday 29 December, kick-off 2.45pm
Louis Deacon is back to captain Leicester in their Guinness Premiership clash with London Irish on Saturday.
Deacon and prop Boris Stankovich are both back in action against the Exiles after injury, while Ian Humphreys and Christophe Laussaucq form the half-back combination and Seru Rabeni returns to the backline.
"Louis Deacon led the team well at the start of the season and it is good to have him and Boris back in the squad," said Tigers head coach Marcelo Loffreda.
"It is going to be a very hard game. London Irish have a good team, they are performing very well.
"We have made some changes to the team but we have a lot of confidence in our squad and we trust the players that will play."
Alesana Tuilagi, Lewis Moody, Marcos Ayerza, James Hamilton, Geordan Murphy and Luke Abraham are all unavailable due to illness or injury.
London Irish have made only one change to their starting line-up following their victory over Worcester last weekend.
The change is at scrum-half, where Paul Hodgson takes over from Peter Richards, who drops to the bench.
Danie Coetzee has recovered from a leg injury and also takes his place among the replacements.
"The Tigers will provide another real test for us tomorrow," said director of rugby Brian Smith.
"The team is laden with quality players wherever you look. Last week they brought an All Black centre and British and Irish Lions prop back into a starting line-up that featured an all-international front five. Such are the resources of this great club.
"We got our Premiership season back on track last Sunday. The players held their nerve in very difficult conditions against a rapidly improving Worcester team.
"We will be asking the players for another big performance tomorrow against a team that are as formidable as any we are likely to meet in this country or in Europe."
Leicester: 15 Sam Vesty, 14 Johne Murphy, 13 Dan Hipkiss, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Seru Rabeni, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Christophe Laussucq, 1 Boris Stankovich, 2 Mefin Davies, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 4 Louis Deacon (c), 5 Marco Wentzel, 6 Brett Deacon, 7 Tom Croft, 8 Jordan Crane
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Julian White, 18 Ben Kay, 19 Ben Herring, 20 Frank Murphy, 21 Ollie Smith, 22 Tom Varndell
London Irish: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Paul Hodgson, 1 Clarke Dermody, 2 David Paice, 3 Richard Skuse, 4 Nick Kennedy, 5 Bob Casey (c), 6 Declan Danaher, 7 Steffon Armitage, 8 Phil Murphy
Replacements: 16 Tonga Lea'aetoa, 17 Danie Coetzee, 18 James Hudson, 19 Juan Leguizamon, 20 Richard Thorpe, 21 Peter Richards, 22 Eoghan Hickey
