Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images Foxes fight back to earn a deserved draw **Recap** Relegated Leicester City earned a deserved draw at Europe-bound Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon at the City Ground. Conor Coady opened the scoring in the first half, only to see it cancelled by a Morgan Gibbs-White strike. Chris Wood gave the hosts the lead early in the second period, but Facundo Buonanotte equalised for the Foxes who were well on top at the end of the match. It probably goes without saying, but we saw this kind of performance all season, we’d be comfortably preparing for life in the Premier League next season. It wasn’t a win, but it was a draw away to a tough opponent and we could well have nicked it at the end. Watching this match and taking notes, this is one of the very few that felt like a “Leicester” performance all season. Pity there weren’t more of them. I remember taking Steve Cooper to task for not using Stephy Mavididi and Abdul Fatawu and I feel the same about van Nistelrooy and Facundo Buonanotte. The Argentine loanee changed the game when he came on and suddenly the entire side were first to all loose balls. He’s a special player, and we needed special players to survive. WhoScored.com rated Kasey McAteer and Wilfred Ndidi the top players for Leicester, even though both had fairly ordinary afternoons. That’s actually kind of refreshing in that we didn’t have one player producing a moment or two of magic, we had an entire squad playing decently and doing the job. **3 Takeaways** * We saw the downside of the “keep the flag down and let VAR sort it out” instructions to the linesmen today. Two players suffered injuries because an obvious offside wasn’t flagged until the play completed. That’s always been the risk. * Stolarczyk can stop a shot and collect a cross. His distribution remains a work in progress, but he’s plenty good enough for the #1 shirt next season. * It feels really, really, really good to disappoint Forest. The draw gives the Foxes 22 points from 36 matches. We remain 19th on the table, level on points with Ipswich Town but five down in the goal differential column. We host the Tractor Boys next Sunday and then close out the campaign with a trip to Bournemouth on the 25th. Leicester City: Stolarczyk, Justin, Coady, Faes, Thomas, Ndidi, Skipp, McAteer, Ayew, El Khannouss, Vardy (C) Nottingham Forest: Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Morato, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Dominguez, Gibbs-White, Elanga, Wood * * * **Key Moments and Notes** 1’- Forest win a corner after only 23 seconds. Stolarczyk gets a hand to it and keeps it from finding a red shirt at the far post. 5’- Close! A cross from the right finds Wood at the edge of the six-yard box. It’s a free header, but he somehow puts it over. 16’- GOAL! A Luke Thomas long throw causes chaos in the Forest area. The ball falls to El Khannouss, whose deflected shot is well saved, but Coady reacts first to nod the ball into the net. Photo by Ed Sykes/Getty Images 25’- GOAL! Luke Thomas giveth and Luke Thomas taketh away. The fullback gives away a foul in a dangerous area and Forest make him pay. Elanga takes the free kick and he finds Gibbs-White in the six-yard box. The midfielder glances home from short range. 31’- Forest are on top, but they really haven’t dominated save in the opening minutes. Watching this half, you wouldn’t guess these teams are at opposite ends of the table. 44’- Close! Dominguez gets off a powerful, rasping drive that Stolarczyk parries to Wood. The New Zealand man can’t get the rebound on target. 45+2’- City win a corner deep into injury time. The delivery finds Vardy near the near post, but he can’t get it on target. * * * 46’- No changes at the half for either side. 53’- Close! Dominguez meets a bouncing cross with a diving header 8 yards out. He puts it directly into the keeper’s arms when it would have been simpler to score. 56’- GOAL! Wood shows Dominguez how it’s done. A diagonal cross finds the former Leicester man at the far post, and he plants his header past Stolarczyk. It was an unreal cross, but the defenders should have done better. 60’- Ayew and Skipp are off in favour of Facundo Buonanotte and Boubakary Soumare. 65’- Close! El Khannouss finds Buonanotte in the area. The Argentine’s header is on target, but it’s right at the keeper, and he saves easily. 69’- Close! A free kick finds Faes deep in the area, but he badly mistimed his jump and was on the way down when the ball arrived. He puts it over when it really should have been in the net. 71’- Buonanotte plays Vardy in. The striker cuts back on his left foot and...tries to play it to McAteer. The pass is too heavy but...why was he passing? 77’- Jeremy Monga and Victor Kristiansen are on for McAteer and Thomas. 81’- GOAL! Forest faff about at the back and pay dearly. Vardy lays it off for Buonannote, who beats his man and slots it past Sels. Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images 87’- What a mess! Forest play in Elanga but he’s miles offside. The flag stays down as he bears down on goal and squares of Awoniyi. He and Buonanotte come together and crash into the far post...and the flag goes up. Both players require treatment. 90+3’- Caleb Okoli comes on for El Khannouss to defend a corner. 90+7’- Close! Leicester break and the ball falls to Monga on the edge of the area. His snapshot is goalbound but Sels gets a finger to it and makes a fine save. 90+8’- Close! Buonanotte’s inswinging cross a peach. It just goes over Vardy’s head and falls to Kristiansen, but he can’t make contact, and it goes out for a goal kick.

Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images The Foxes score and win at home as Vardy gets his 199th Leicester goal. **Recap** Leicester City defeated fellow strugglers Southampton by a score 2-0 at the King Power on Saturday afternoon. Jamie Vardy and Jordan Ayew struck in the first half to give the Foxes the final margin. Neither side seriously threatened scoring in the second period as keeper Jakub Stolarczyk only faced two shots on goal the whole afternoon. It was a meaningless match, but it was fun to watch. I don’t know how many times I’ve had a chance to say this, but we were the better side the entire match and fully deserved the win. The only player who looked off the pace was Skipp, who hasn’t played enough to stay sharp. Everyone else looked crisp and in control. What’s left to play for? Getting Vardy his 200th Leicester goal. Finding out which of our younger players are ready for senior football. Finishing in front of Ipswich Town would mean a couple of million pounds for the club. That’s about it. **3 Takeaways** * Jamie Vardy can still score when he gets a modicum of service. I suspect he will be able to score from a wheelchair when he’s 90. Michael Owen was wrong; he’s a natural scorer. * I did not understand it at the time and I still don’t: How on earth was Oliver Skipp a 20m player? * I hope we can keep Stolarczyk next season. I feel comfortable with him in goal. The victory gives the Foxes 21 points from 35 matches. We remain 19th on the table, but only a point behind Ipswich. It might as well be two points as they have a big advantage in goal differential, but it’s something to shoot for. We travelling to face Nottingham Forest next Sunday and then host Ipswich in the penultimate match of the season. Leicester City: Stolarczyk, Justin, Faes, Coady, Thomas, Ndidi, Skipp, McAteer, El Khannouss, Ayew, Vardy Southampton: Ramsdale, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Stephens, Walker-Peters, Downes, Ugochukwu, Manning, Fernandes, Sulemana, Stewart * * * **Key Moments and Notes** 1’- The press are calling this match “El Crapico” on account of it being not just a fixture featuring the bottom two clubs, but two of the lowest-ever point totals for this point in the season. Credit where it’s due: It’s a good joke. 5’- Saints win a corner through a ball over the top that Coady has to put behind. A free header from the cross is directly to Stolarcyzk, but it had a lot of pace, so better direction would have been a problem. 8’- The commentators seem to have decided that Kasey McAteer is Jordan Ayew and Luke Thomas is Kasey McAteer. Makes me feel a little better about my level of professionalism. 17’- GOAL! Glorious break from the Foxes! Thomas plays an incredible return ball to El Khannouss and he’s off to the races on the left. He pulls it back for Vardy and, even though the ball is behind him, he smashes it first time with his left boot and no keeper on the planet is saving that one. 199 Leicester goals for Jamie. 19’- File this one under “things you’ve never seen before.” Jordan Ayew inadvertently catches referee David Webb with an elbow to the head. The official goes down. Jamie Vardy picks up his whistle and blows it so the ref can receive treatment. We have a 10 minutes delay before he’s replaced by 4th official Sam Barrott. The referee’s delegate takes over as the new 4th official. Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images 36’- A mix-up at the back gifts the Foxes a corner. Ayew takes it and Ndidi rises highest to glance it across the face of the goal, but no blue shirts are present. 40’- McAteer crosses into the box and it falls to Luke Thomas. His shot is blocked and goes behind for a corner which comes to nothing. 44’- GOAL! El Khannouss wins a free kick on the edge of the area. Ayew’s free kick hits the middle of the wall, but it comes right back to the Ghana striker. He hits it low through traffic and it finds a way into the far corner. 45’- TWELVE (12) minutes of time added on. 45+12’ - TWELVE (12) minutes of time added on have been played and I’ve nothing to report about them. It’s 2-0 to the Foxes at the half. * * * 46’- We have a new fourth official. The Foxes are unchanged. 52’- Close! El Khannouss does everything right, beating two defenders and getting into the box, but he puts his shot over. It was a difficult chance to make and the finish should have been the easiest part. 55’- Southampton have the ball in the net, but it doesn’t count. A free kick deep into the box finds Manuel Fernandes who taps home, but he’s offside. 68’- Skipp goes into the book for a foul that could be reasonably described as “late.” Very late. No arguments. 70’- Jeremy Monga comes on for goalscorer Ayew. Photo by James Holyoak/MB Media/Getty Images 76’- Close! Vardy takes a free kick from outside the area. It’s on target and it’s travelling, but Pickford parries and Vardy’s header from the rebound is wide. 81’- Skipp seems determined to end his night early. He misses the ball and kicks a Saints player in the face with a high boot. No card, but you have certainly seen them given. 84’- A triple change for the Foxes: Vardy, El Khannouss, and McAteer are off for Jake Evans, Patson Daka, and Boubakary Soumare. 90+4’- Skipp gets his wish and comes off before the final whistle as he’s replaced by Michael Golding. 90+5’- Ndidi’s through ball finds Daka and it’s a two-on-one break for the Foxes! Unfortunately, he holds the ball too long instead of playing into space for Evans and it comes to nothing. That’s the final action of the match. 82’- The commentary team are still calling Luke Thomas “Kasey McAteer.” Sigh.

Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images _As fair a scoreline as you’re likely to see this year._ **Recap** Leicester City dropped all three points against Wolverhampton Wanderers by a score of 3-0 at Molineaux on Saturday. Matheus Cunha’s tap-in gave the hosts a 1-0 lead at the break. Goals from Jorgen Strand Larsen and Rodrigo Gomes on either side of a missed penalty from Jamie Vardy gave Wolves the final margin. This is depressing. The scoreline is perfectly indicative of the run of play. The back line defended well for long periods and then were carved open like a laser through butter three times. The midfield were regularly overrun. The attack didn’t. I mean, they didn’t attack. Everything Vardy said in his post was accurate and on display today. We’ll go into that in detail next week, but we never looked like we belonged on the same pitch as Wolves. That’s a tough pill to swallow but we have to face the fact that we’re not good enough. We won’t get better until we’re honest about what we are. Did anyone play particularly well? I’d probably give our Man of the Match to Wout Faes. He cleared a ball off the line and certainly put in the effort. There wasn’t a great deal of competition for the honour. And if that isn’t a depressing thought, I don’t know what is. **3 Takeaways** * I was up until 3:00 AM last night. This performance was not worth getting up five hours later to watch. * It’s too early to speculate, but I think there’s a real chance that Luke Thomas is the only one of our starting XI today who’ll be here next year. * I’m usually not a fan of a younger player shaving their head, but Oliver Skipp might want to consider it. You can see the 24 year-old’s bald patch from the cheap seats. Today’s loss leaves the Foxes on 18 points from 34 matches. We’re 19th on the table and we’re very likely to remain there for the rest of the season. Our last four fixtures are: Southampton (3 May) at Nottingham Forest (11 May) Ipswich Town (18 May) at Bournemouth (25 May) Leicester City: Hermansen, Ricardo, Faes, Coady, Thomas, Ndidi, Soumare, Buonanotte, El Khannouss, De Cordova-Reid, Vardy Wolves: Sa, Doherty, Agbadou, T. Gomes, Semedo, J. Gomes, Andre, Ait-Nouri, Munetsi, Cunha, Larsen * * * 1’- This is the first match of the season where both sides’ fates are settled. What kind of intensity will we see? 10’- If the first ten minutes are any indication, the answer to the previous entry’s question is “not a great deal.” 17’- The Foxes get something going at last. Buonanotte gets through a couple of tackles in midfield. He and Vardy are in a two-on-one before Agbadou takes the Argentine down. The referee produces a yellow. 18’- City win a corner from the free kick. Coady gets a strong head to it, but his effort is right at Sa. 22’- Faes’ backpass puts Hermansen in trouble. Larsen closes the keeper down and the attempted clearance comes off the striker’s backside and rolls towards the goal. Fortunately, it’s slow enough for Hermansen to recover. 32’- The break is on for the Foxes but Vardy is offside. The referee plays advantage to Wolves which is something I’ll never get used to. 33’- GOAL! Apparently, it was a good advantage from the ref. The hosts work the ball out to Ait-Nouri in acres of space. He’s allowed to carry the ball to the edge of the area unopposed. He picks out the unmarked Cunha, who taps home from close range. Photo by Joe Prior/Getty Images 43’- A promising break from the Foxes comes to nothing when Toti stops De Cordova-Reid in his tracks. It comes at a price as the Jamaica man seems to have done his hamstring. Jordan Ayew replaces him just before the break. 45+5’- It’s halftime now. 1-0 to the hosts. * * * 46’- A triple substation to start the half for the Foxes: Buonanotte, Soumare, and Ricardo are off for Kasey McAteer, Oliver Skipp, and James Justin. Buonanotte suffered a concussion so City have an additional change available. 52’- How have Wolves not doubled their lead? The hosts carve up the City defense. Cunha’s shot deflects off of Munetsi and falls kindly to Ait-Nouri. His shot is well-saved by Hermansen, but it’s worked to Strand-Larsen in the six-yard box. He somehow puts it miles over. 54’- Close! El Khannouss gets a view of goal from just outside the box and tries to curl it around Sa. The keeper is beaten but it drifts agonisingly wide. 56’- GOAL! Too easy for Wolves. Strand Larsen starts the move in midfield, finding Cunha on the left. The goalscorer threads a perfect diagonal ball through the City defence and finds Strand Larsen in stride in the box. He’s too strong for Coady and finishes smartly across Hermansen. 69’- Saved Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images penalty! Vardy is taken down by Sa in the box following a lovely pass from El Khannouss. The video feed shows that Vardy has gone to the left with all of his penalty attempts this year and, wouldn’t you know it, he does again and Sa saves easily. 82’- Jeremy Monga is on for El Khannouss. 85’- GOAL! Amazing pass from Sarabia to find Cunha in the City half. He lays it off for Rodrigo Gomes and he has a simple finish to make it 3-0. 90+5’- It’s over. The scoreline tells the story.

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images Foxes relegated from the Premier League. **Recap** Leicester City fell by a score of 1-0 to Liverpool on Sunday afternoon at the King Power, ensuring their relegation to the League Championship after just one season in the top flight. Mo Salah and Wilfred Ndidi both rattled the post in a goalless first half. Midway through the second period, Trent Alexander-Arnold scored to give the visitors the full three points. For what it’s worth, it was a decent performance from Leicester. The xG was ugly: 0.25 vs. 2.62, but it isn’t like the Foxes were under enormous pressure for most of the match. Liverpool had their flurries, but the defending and goalkeeping were stout, and a draw wouldn’t have been the most unfair result in the world. According to whoscored.com, the standouts for the Foxes were Hermansen (7.7), Ndidi (7.5), and Thomas (7.1). I think that’s a fair representation. Thomas did a fine job on Salah, Ndidi was everywhere, and Hermansen was back to his best. You’ll probably note the lack of attacking players on that list. Once again, the front line were starved of possession and when that happens, we’re going to struggle to score. I imagine we’ll do a post-mortem on this season, but it’s a simple fact that this side were not good enough to stay in the top flight. That’s not just a knock on the players; the entire club were simply not set up for survival. We got what we deserved. **3 Takeaways** * This was the first time since the Ipswich draw in early November that Wilfred Ndidi and Ricardo Pereira started a match together. It was also our best defensive performance in quite a while. * Luke Thomas is much better as a fullback than in a back three. This shouldn’t need saying, but apparently it did need it. * Jamie Vardy. Sigh. The defeat leaves us on 18 points from 33 matches, and we remain 19th on the table. We’re 3 points behind Ipswich Town for 18th. Catching them would be worth almost £2 million, so that’s something to shoot for. We travel to the West Midlands to face Wolves next Saturday and then host fellow relegated side Southampton on 3 May. Leicester City: Hermansen, Ricardo, Faes, Coady, Thomas, Ndidi, Soumare, De Cordova-Reid, El Khannouss, Mavididi, Vardy Liverpool: Alisson, Tsimikas, Virgil, Konate, Bradley, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Szoboszlai, Gakpo, Diaz * * * **Key Moments and Notes** 1’- There are more than a few empty seats at the King Power today. It’s hard to blame them, but it’s disappointing nonetheless. 3’- Close! Salah gets the ball all alone ten yards from the goal. He beats Hermansen but it comes off the inside of the far post, rolls across the face of the goal, comes off the near post, and rolls to safety. 10’- Close! Mavididi does incredibly well to turn Bradley inside out. He slips the ball to Ndidi, who hits it first time and beats Alisson, but it cannons off the inside of the post. Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images 15’- Close! Gakpo’s cross finds Salah at the far post but Hermansen makes a fine save to keep it level. 28’- The visitors are on top, of course. But the Foxes’ back line aren’t making it easy for them. Luke Thomas in particular, is making things more difficult than expected for Salah by dint of “actually paying attention.” 39’- From yet another Reds’ corner, Konate gets the ball in the six-yard box. His shot beats Hermansen, but Ndidi makes an acrobatic clearance to put it over. 45’- There’s not much urgency from either side so far. 0-0 is mostly a fair representation, but Liverpool have definitely been the better side. * * * 46’- The second half starts as much of the first half went: Thomas clears a cross intended for Salah. 60’- Facundo Buonanotte and Patson Daka come on for De Cordova-Reid and Vardy. 66’- The Foxes have the ball in the back of the net, but it doesn’t count. Daka shoulder barged Alisson to win the ball and tap it to Coady, who headed into an open net. As per the commentators, that’s only a foul if it’s a goalkeeper. In fairness, it is _always_ a foul if it’s a goalkeeper. 76’- GOAL! Liverpool lay siege to the Leicester goal. Salah hits the post. It comes out to Jota, who hits the post. Thomas goes down in the box with a head injury. The ball continues to ping-pong around and Alexander-Arnold blasts home from a tight angle. 82’- Close! Buonanotte finds Mavididi in space with a perfect ball over the top. The winger holds it and plays a return to the onrushing Buonanotte, but the Argentine puts it wide when he just needed to hit the target. Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images 83’- James Justin and Oliver Skipp are on for Ricardo and Ndidi. 85’- Jeremy Monga comes on for Mavididi who picked up a knock. 90+4’- Daka does very well to hold up a deflected pass and lay it off for Buonanotte. He hits it well, but just gets under it. 90+7’- That’s it. The Foxes are relegated.

Photo by Copa/Getty Images _Toothless Foxes toyed with at the Etihad_ **Recap** Leicester City were defeated by Manchester City at the Etihad on Wednesday evening by a score of 2-0. First-half goals from Jack Grealish and Omar Marmoush gave the hosts an insurmountable lead. Leicester were unable to get a touch for long periods of the second half and never looked like scoring, let alone overturning the deficit. We’ve suffered heavier defeats, but few have been more comprehensive or humiliating. The Foxes took two shots, neither of which were on target. The hosts played with us for the entire second half, playing keep-away and giving the impression they could have scored more had they wanted to, but there was no need. Perhaps that’s unfair. The wingback system did give up chances in the first half, but only one of which resulted in a goal. The other was a dreadful error by Mads Hermansen, who spilled a chip into the path of an attacker. Other than that, the defending was solid. Sure, that’s very much a “other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?” situation, but the defending wasn’t disastrous. That attack, on the other hand? There was none. If it’s possible to have a negative xG, we would have done it. There was nothing. We didn’t have the ball and when we did, we knocked it around the back. Nothing to see here. Move along. It was awful. This team is going down. **3 Takeaways** * Wlifred Ndidi is, in my opinion, one of the very few players who deserves to be in the top flight next year. * I remain convinced that letting Steve Cooper go was the right decision; I remain baffled by the decision to bring in van Nistelrooy. * I am starting to suspect that the list of managers who _wanted_ to come here was shorter than we knew. The defeat leaves us 19th on the table with 17 points from 30 matches. We’re 12 points behind Wolves with 8 matches to play. These are dark times. The fixture list doesn’t make things any brighter: * 7/4 Newcastle * 12/4 at Brighton and Hove Albion * 20/4 Liverpool Sigh. Leicester City: Hermansen, Faes, Coady, Thomas, Justin, Ndidi, Soumare, Kristiansen, El Khannouss, Daka, Vardy Manchester City: Ederson, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Gonzalez, Gundogan, Savinho, Grealish, Doku, Marmoush * * * **Key Moments and Notes** 2’- GOAL! Doku muscles his way through the midfield and finds Savinho in the channel. He pulls it back for an unmarked Grealish who tucks home from the spot as Soumare was far too late trying to recover. Too easy for the hosts. 10’- The Foxes are struggling to get out of their own area. They’re knocking it around well, but there’s they always seem right on the edge of a costly turnover and they’re offering nothing going forward. 15’- Leicester are defending well right now but already down a goal, that’s not going to be enough. 17’- Close! Ndidi gets into space down the left. He tees up El Khannouss from distance and the Moroccan tries to curl it inside the far post. It’s very close and I don’t think Ederson was going to get there. 30’- GOAL! An absolute gift from the Foxes. A chip over the defense should be dealt with by Faes or taken by Hermansen, but it’s neither. The Danish keeper spills it and Marmoush blasts home off the bar. Photo by Lee Parker - CameraSport via Getty Images <facepalm emoji> 34’- Close! Savinho gets to the line again and this time pulls it back for Marmoush. He has ages to pick his spot, but he only manages to hit Faes’ chest. 35’- Vardy’s in the book for a frustration foul on Marmoush. There’s less in it than it originally looked, but it’s still worthy of a yellow. 36’- Doku goes down in the box and screams for a penalty against Justin. There was zero contact. Shameless. 38’- Close! Hermansen does very well to get a hand to a shot headed for the top netting and turn it over. Savinho must be wondering how that didn’t go in. 45+2’- The Foxes get their first touch inside the Manchester City box as Faes heads on a long throw from Thomas. It comes to nothing. * * * 46’- The Foxes make one change at the half, with Oliver Skipp on for Vardy. Not what I would have done with a two-goal deficit, but my opinion counts for very little indeed. 48’- Grealish lines up a shot but kicks El Khannouss instead. He screams for a penalty. The commentators charitably say he probably thought he was fouled even though he clearly wasn’t. 59’- The hosts are seeing three-quarters of the possession so van Nistelrooy decides to change things up. Facundo Buonanotte and Caleb Okoli are on for El Khannouss and Kristiansen. 65’- Savinho gets his shirt and shorts pulled three times before losing the ball and doesn’t get the call. He’s upset and he as every right to be. 72’- Justin goes into the book for hauling back Marmoush. Yep. No argument. 76’- Ricardo is on for Soumare which I love to see, but...is that a change that’s going to get us back in the match? In fairness, the change that would get us back in the match probably doesn’t exist. Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images 80’- Jordan Ayew is on for Daka. If you think I’m losing enthusiasm for this, you’re right. 90+whatever’- It’s over. A whimper, not a bang.

Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images _The Foxes prove the commentary team right. I hate it when we do that._ **Recap** Leicester City were brushed aside by Manchester United by a score of 3-0 at the King Power on Sunday evening. Rasmus Hojlund struck halfway through the first period to give the visitors the lead at the break. Anthony Garnacho added a second after the hour mark and Bruno Fernandes grabbed a third right before second-half injury time. I don’t know what else to say. We didn’t do anything well. We never looked like scoring. We were to easy to beat in defence. This was a deserved 3-0 defeat. Let’s just go to the takeaways, because they’re more involved than normal tonight. **3 Takeaways** * We became the first club in English league football history to lose seven straight at home without scoring. For the newcomers who chose to support Leicester City, we are a history-making club. It is not always the kind of history you want to make. Morale couldn’t be lower. I think you can reasonably point to the extremely quiet transfer window in January as the time when the players felt like they’d been cut adrift. You would expect the club to bring in reinforcements and we added a backup fullback. * Which nicely brings me to the second point: I’ve never felt more detached from the leadership of the club. I’ve supported Leicester for almost 30 years now and, as some of you older heads surely know, things have been bad. But they’ve never felt this...hopeless? The summer transfer window was baffling, the managerial choice clearly didn’t work, and, while I know this is a small thing, selecting a crypto casino as our shirt sponsor just felt awfully on the nose. I don’t know what the plan is. I’m not sure there is one. * Finally, I have to mention something which really hurts. This is nothing like 2014/15, the year of the Great Escape. That season, we played reasonably well throughout the entire schedule but every tiny mistake was maximally punished. The club were playing well, the performances were good, and the escape was as much a matter of the results finally matching the performances as anything else. None of this is true of this season. We’re 19th because we’re the 19th best club in the league and our performances reflect that. _In my opinion, this is still Vardy’s greatest goal._ The defeat leaves us on 17 points from 29 matches and 19th on the table. We’re 9 points behind 17th-placed Wolves, but their goal differential is imposing. Ironically, this is the same point return we had at this point in 2015, but like I said above, that’s where the similarities end. Next up is the international break, and thank The Twelve for that. When league play resumes, we travel to the Etihad to face Manchester City on 2 April. On the 7th, we host League Cup holders Newcastle at the King Power. Leicester City: Hermansen, Justin (McAteer 82’), Faes, Coady, Kristiansen (Mavididi 82’), Thomas, Soumare (Winks 64’), Ndidi, El Khannouss (Ayew 90+4’), Daka (Buonanotte 64’), Vardy Manchester United: Onana, de Ligt, Lindelof, Heaven, Mazraoui, Fernandes, Ugarte, Dalot, Garnacho, Eriksen, Hojlund Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images _How many changes do YOU think we’ll see next season?_ Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images _How many changes do YOU think we’ll see next season?_ * * * **Key Moments and Notes** 1’- The commentary team are predicting a comfortable win for Manchester United and claim Leicester have passed “the point of no return.” So this is a freebie, right? 4’- Close! Sloppy play from both sides results in Ndidi nicking the ball deep in the United half. He plays in Vardy and the striker hits it first time. It’s on target, but not the most difficult save for Onana. 14’- If you’re not watching, you’re not missing anything. The Red Devils are attacking unconvincingly. The Foxes aren’t attacking at all. 16’- Onana and Lindelof almost get it all wrong on a ball over the top, but the keeper comes out of his box and deals with it. 19’- Garnacho shoots from distance after City half clear a corner. It’s an easy take for Hermansen. 24’- Close! Eriksen curls in a ball that beats his countryman but comes off the inside of the post. Fortunate. 28’- GOAL! A simple ball over the top finds Rasmus Hojlund. Soumare gets it all wrong and the striker is free to pick his shot. He slots it into the far corner with Hermansen absolutely stranded. Too easy. 39’- A decent penalty shout for the Foxes. United play themselves into trouble in their own area. Daka’s shot is blocked, but it comes back to El Khannouss. His shot comes off Ferndandes’ outstretched arm. It was from very close range, but...you have seen them given when the arm is in that position. 45+2’- Halftime. The scoreline perfectly reflects the run of play. * * * 46’- No changes for either side at the half. Not sure how I feel about that from a Leicester perspective. > Sacking Steve Cooper and replacing him with Ruud van Nistelrooy might be one of the worst Premier League decisions of all time #LCFC > > — Callum Vurley (@callumvurley.bsky.social) 2025-02-21T20:40:33.738Z _I agree with exactly half of this statement._ 49’- Nearly a chance for the Foxes. Soumare does well in midfield and slides in Vardy on the left. Instead of trying a low-percentage shot, he tries a low-percentage pass across the face of the goal. Heaven gets there before Daka and puts it behind. The young defender is injured making the clearance and requires extended treatment before coming off. Here’s hoping it isn’t too bad. 57’- Saved by the flag! Soumare gives it away in midfield and United break 3-on-3. Hojlund finds Garnacho on the right and the winger lashes home. The flag goes up and the pass was just a little late, causing Garnacho to stray offside. 63’- Two changes for the Foxes as Harry Winks and Facundo Buonanotte come on for Soumare and Daka. 68’- GOAL! The Foxes defend deep and fail to clear a ball in their box. It pings to Garnacho, who just turns and shoots, slotting home inside the near post. 75’- City look more likely now. That bar is low and it is still well shy of “you think they’re going to score.” 82’- Wingbacks Kristiansen and Justin are off, Kasey McAteer and Stephy Mavididi come on. It’s a risk van Nistelrooy has to take. He probably had to take it 20 minutes ago. 90’- GOAL! Fernandes receives a cutback on the edge of the area and sweeps it inside the side netting. He makes it look easy, but it wasn’t. The technique was perfect. 90+4’- Jordan Ayew comes on for Bilal El Khannouss. 90+7’- Close! Vardy is slipped in and he takes all of his frustration out on the ball, positively belting it. It comes off Onana’s arm more than the keeper actually saving it. Unfortunate. 90+-9’- That’s it.

Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images _No defensive lapse goes unpunished with this club_ **Recap:** Leicester City fell to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday morning by a score of 1-0. Mads Hermansen made a fantastic save to deny Cole Palmer’s penalty to keep things goalless at the half. A defensive lapse allowed Marc Cucurella to score from distance on the hour for the game’s only goal. The headlines will rightly read that the Foxes failed to win (again) and failed to score (again) and there’s no argument against that. That’s the story. We’re six points from safety with ten matches to play and nothing really matters but points at this juncture. Was it an improved performance? Absolutely. But, did we ever really look like getting a goal? No. Not at all. I applaud the decision to go with three at the back. Something needed to change and this seemed to tighten up the defense aside from the one moment when it didn’t. Chelsea out-shot City 20-3, but in terms of shots on target, the margin was only 7-3 and most of them were tame. I was a little surprised to see Thomas deployed as a centre-half, but he was quite good and earned a longer look. The attack, of course, was woeful. Neither Daka nor El Khannouss seemed to know what their role was in this system and both were loose with the ball. The wingbacks didn’t provide enough of an outlet and the Chelsea defence looked comfortable all day. There are probably ways to make this system work. This wasn’t it. **3 Takeaways** * Wilfred Ndidi makes everything better. He won all five of his tackles and all three aerial duels. * Ricardo will make everything better. As he returns to fitness, so too returns my optimism. May have left it too late, though. * Vardy looked sharp, but...will this club _ever_ find someone to displace him? On today’s evidence, Daka’s not the man to do it. The defeat leaves the Foxes moored on 17 points from 28 matches and 19th on the table. That’s 6 points from safety, but it feels like 60. We’re 19th in scoring, 19th in fewest goals allowed, and 19th in goal differential. This bodes ill. It’s a good thing the next five matches are: 16 March - Manchester United 2 April - at Manchester City 7 April - Newcastle 12 April - at Brighton and Hove Albion 20 April - Liverpool FML. Leicester City: Mads Hermansen, Wout Faes, Conor Coady, Luke Thomas, James Justin (Ricardo Pereira 83’), Wilfred Ndidi, Boubakary Soumare (Harry Winks 65’), Victor Kristiansen (Stephy Mavididi 83’), Patson Daka (Bobby De Cordova-Reid 83’), Bilal El Khannouss (Facundo Buonanotte 73’), Jamie Vardy Chelsea: Robert Sanchez, Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo, Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella, Moisés Caicedo, Enzo Fernández, Jadon Sancho, Cole Palmer, Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto * * * 1’- It’s a beautiful day at Stamford Bridge. Manager Ruud van Nistelrooy has changed things up, going with five at the back and two strikers...sort of (Daka is on the right). I don’t know if it will work, but I can tell you this: What we were doing wasn’t working so I’m happy to see a change. 2’- Cole Palmer barges into Luke Thomas and goes down in the box. There are shouts for a penalty but the Chelsea man is a bit fortunate not to see yellow for this one. 11’- It been a bit of a storm for the Foxes to weather in the opening ten minutes. 20’- Penalty to Chelsea! Kristiansen makes a foolish challenge on Sancho and the Chelsea man goes over theatrically. Annoying as that is, it’s still a legitimate penalty. Hermansen guesses right and saves to his left. > Me: great that Hermansen saved Cole Palmer’s penalty. Also me: a bit annoying that Hermansen saved Palmer’s penalty. #LCFC #FPL > > — Jeremy Benson (@jembenson.bsky.social) 2025-03-09T15:21:34.181Z 25’- Close! A raking ball from Ndidi finds Justin deep in the Chelsea half. The wingback crosses to the centre of the area and Adarabioyo heads it off his own crossbar. Vardy tries to head it in but Cucurella just beats him to the ball. 30’- Chelsea are enjoying a lot of possession and getting a lot of shots off, but most of them are getting blocked. Faes is doing fine work clearing everything in the air. 36’- El Khannouss finds some space in the centre of the park. He had Vardy in front of him and the wing backs on either side, but his pass to the left is unfortunate and the move breaks down. 40’- Close! Thomas does incredibly well to deny Neto a tap-in at the far post. 40’+5- Chelsea are on top here, but they’re not really threatening anything. The stats will show Chelsea with a lot of shots, but other than the penalty save, it’s been a pretty quiet half for Hermansen. * * * 46’- No change for either side. No shock. 51’- Close! A ball over the top finds Vardy on the right side of the area. He wants to take it on the half-volley but the bounce is wrong, so he has to shoot from a tighter angle. It’s on target but Sanchez parries over. 60’- GOAL! No one closes down Cucurella outside the box so he lines up a shot and rolls it into the far corner. Where was the defence? The world wonders. Photo by Chris Lee - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images _If you’re wondering where the defenders were, you’re not alone._ 65’- Harry Winks is on for Soumare. I get it, but it’s like for like. Daka’s not working on the right. 73’- El Khannouss comes off and Facundo Buonanotte replaces him. Again, it’s like for like. 78’- The thing is, and the commentators have mentioned it, we’re awfully loose with the ball for a team that doesn't enjoy a great deal of possession. 80’- Penalty shout for the hosts as a shot comes off Coady’s bum and strikes his elbow. VAR confirms that it’s not a penalty. You’ve seen them given, but that would have been harsh. 83’- Two more changes for the Foxes as Ricardo Pereira, Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Stephy Mavididi come on for Justin, Daka and Kristiansen. Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images _Not the best action shot, but I’ll take it. It’s so good to see him on the pitch._ 85’- Riccy lines up a shot from distance. It’s right at Sanchez, but it’s a reminder of what he brings to the table. 90’- Six minutes of time to be added. We don’t really look like scoring. Or threatening. 93’- Sigh. Ricardo cuts it back for Buonanotte but it nutmegs the Brighton loanee. 90’+6’- That’s it.

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images And 80 minutes performance in a 90 minute match **Recap** Leicester City fell to Arsenal by a score of 2-0 at the King Power in Saturday’s early match. After an even first half, substitute Mikel Merino bagged a late brace to give the title-chasing visitors all three points. That was probably our best defensive performance, at least for the first 80 minutes. For once, this wasn’t a matter of constant last-ditch blocks and great saves. City held Arsenal largely at bay and looked comfortable defensively. No small part of that was down to the Gunners missing some key parts, but as a unit, Leicester’s back line and central midfield looked solid. The attack, on the other hand? Other than some neat work by El Khannouss, there was no sustained threat at all. That’s to be expected when the team sitting 18th on the table is facing the 2nd-place side, but there wasn’t a lot to say about how City looked going forward. > Leicester 0 (0.2)-(1.4) 2 Arsenal Let's never talk about the first half ever again. > > — Scott Willis (@scott.cannonstats.com) 2025-02-15T14:37:30.492Z _0.2 xG is not a lot of xG._ The one bit of encouragement, for me at least, is that the return of Wilfred Ndidi has greatly improved the solidity of the defence. Being able to point to a reason for something gives me a lot more confidence that it’s real and sustainable. I’d rather have the points than “real and sustainable improvement,” but you take what you can get. **3 Takeways** * This “getting up before sunrise to see us lose” is getting old. Can we maybe not play any more of these 12:30 matches? * Woyo Coulibaly’s introduction coincided with Raheem Sterling’s disappearance from the match. Interesting. * It probably doesn’t mean much, but it’s interesting to see Bobby De Cordova-Reid on the right and Jordan Ayew on the left. Steve Cooper deployed them on opposite wings but Ruud van Nistelrooy seems to prefer this alignment. I honestly can’t tell you if it’s more or less effective. The defeat leaves the Foxes on 17 points from 25 matches, two points behind Wolves. Wanderers also have a game in hand, so things could be much worse by tomorrow evening. Probably not, though, as the game in hand is at Anfield. We host Brentford next Friday and then travel to London to square off against West Ham the following Thursday. Leicester City: Mads Hermansen, James Justin (Woyo Coulibaly 42’), Wout Faes, Caleb Okoli, Victor Kristiansen, Wilfred Ndidi (Facundo Buonanotte 85’), Boubakary Soumare, Bobby De Cordova-Reid (Patson Daka 85’), Bilal El Khannouss, Jordan Ayew (Stephy Mavididi 75’), Jamie Vardy (C) Arsenal: David Raya, Jurren Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, Ethan Nwaneri, Raheem Sterling, Leandro Trossard * * * 1’- The atmosphere at the King Power feels looser today? Maybe it’s because there’s no expectation of a result? 5’- The Foxes are moving the ball very quickly when they have it. There’s a lot of nice one-touch passing so far. Photo by Han Myung-Gu/WireImage _Since this stopped immediately after I wrote it, I thought I’d post an appropriate picture by searching for “Never Again.” That was a mistake. So instead, here’s a picture of BoA for...reasons._ 10’- Close! A cross into the Arsenal box is only cleared as far as Ndidi on the edge of the area. He lines up the volley and you probably expect him to sky it over, but he hits it well and it’s on-target, but too close to Raya to cause any serious problems. 20’- Every time Arsenal attack down the Leicester right, they’re getting behind. That’s a concern as this is Raheem Sterling who’s finding so much joy. If the Gunners had any pace at all down this flank it’d be a big, big problem. 24’- Justin goes down after making a pass and takes his shoe off. He’s back up after a few minutes of treatment, but this doesn’t look good. 33’- Sterling takes a pop from distance after Soumare turns it over, but it’s deflected behind for a corner. 43’- Justin’s down again following a challenge from Trossard and that’s it for the fullback. Woyo Coulibaly comes on just before the half. Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images _I don’t think I’ve posted a picture of Coulibaly yet. Let’s fix that._ 45+5’- Kristiansen swings the ball in from the flank and Ndidi rises highest. He’s a long way from the goal but he gets a lot of power on it. Placement? That’s another story. That’s it for the half. * * * 46’- No changes for either side at the half. Here we go. 52’- Ayew holds Timber’s shirt for about 20 yards before the referee blows the whistle. It’s a yellow. As it should be. 60’- Close! Ndidi’s pass doesn’t have enough on it and Arsenal break. Nwaneri takes it to the edge of the area and tries to curl it into the corner. It’s over the bar, but he didn’t miss by much. 67’- Close! Some chaotic play on the edge of the Arsenal area sees the ball fall to De Cordova-Reid on the edge of the box. With no pressure on his, you’d hope he’d do better than hitting it directly at the keeper. Your hopes would have been in vain. 73’- Close! Ayew picks up a loose ball in midfield with acres of space in front of him. He uses all of it and slides a pace across the face of the goal. It looks like De Cordova-Reid will have a tap-in at the far post, but Lewis-Skelly just gets a toe to it to put it behind for a corner. 75’- Ayew comes off in favour of former Arsenal winger Stephy Mavididi. 76’- Close! Rice slides a ball to Nwaneri, who is forced outside but he gets his shot off and it’s turned on to the post by Hermansen. Best chance of the match so far. 81’- GOAL! Too easy for the Gunners. Substitute Mikel Merino heads home Nwaneri’s cross to give the visitors a one-goal edge. > GOL DO ARSENAL ⚽️ Mikel Merino ️ Ethan Nwaneri Leicester 0x1 Arsenal #PremierLeague > > — Futebol Clube (@futebolclub10.bsky.social) 2025-02-15T14:15:37.668Z _He took it well, but he wasn’t exactly under pressure, was he?_ 85’- Patson Daka and Facundo Buonanotte come on for De Cordova-Reid and Ndidi. 87’- GOAL! The Foxes throw bodies forward and get caught out when the Gunners win the ball back. Trossard crosses from the left and it’s Merino, unmarked at the far post, who turns it home. 90+5’- That the final whistle. The Foxes fail to score, fail to keep a clean sheet, and fail to take a point. Grim.

Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images _Sorry Foxes undone by, well, everything_ **Recap** Leicester City were thrashed by Everton by a score of 4-0 in City’s final match at Goodison Park. The Toffees opened the scoring on 10 seconds through Abdoulaye Doucoure and doubled the lead five minutes later when Beto got behind the defence. Beto and Ilman Ndiaye scored in injury time of the first and second half respectively to give the hosts their final margin. That was just awful. City were poor in every area of the pitch and good value for the defeat. Leicester managed a single shot on target. When you play the entire match down a goal (or more), there has to be a response. There was none. Today was a total waste of time from a Leicester standpoint unless it spurs some urgent buying over the next two days. Was anyone particularly good? No. The central defenders and central midfielders were especially poor, and Vardy never saw the ball so we don’t know how he was. How bad was the defence? Everton had scored 9 goals from open play all season. They scored 4 today. What scares me is that this is the blueprint for beating Leicester. Faes and Kristiansen like to cheat forward, leaving Vestergaard as the last man. Play in behind him and you’ll get chances. The big Dane has no pace and there’s no cover for him. It was just too easy for Everton. **3 Takeaways** * Without Ricardo and Ndidi and Fatawu, this team isn’t good enough to survive. * Managers get fired for performances like this. * There are no good takeaways. The defeat leaves us on 17 points from 24 matches. Ouch. We remain 17th on the table, but Wolves have a game in hand. We’re 7 points behind 16th-place Tottenham, so it’s really just down to staying ahead of Ipswich and Wolves. We travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the FA Cup on Friday. Then, on the day after Valentine’s Day, we face Arsenal at the King Power. Leicester City: Mads Hermansen, James Justin, Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard, Victor Kristiansen, Harry Winks, Boubakary Soumare, Jordan Ayew, Bilal El Khannouss, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Jamie Vardy Everton: Jordan Pickford, Jake O’Brien, James Tarkowski, Jarrad Branthwaite, Vitaliy Mykolenko, James Garner, Idriss Gueye, Jesper Lindstrom, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Ilman Ndiaye, Beto * * * 1’- GOAL! Well, that was the worst start we could possibly imagine. From the kickoff, Pickford plays a ball over the top. Soumare loses out to Beto, who lets it run for Doucoure. He receives it unchallenged and slots past Hermansen. 1-0 to the Toffees on 10 seconds. Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images 10 Seconds 6’- GOAL! Tarkowski plays a long ball to Beto. Justin plays him onside and Faes doesn’t have the pace to keep up. He shoots from the same spot as Doucoure five minutes and it’s the same result. 2-0 to Everton. 13’- Better from the Foxes, who are showing some composure to move the ball around outside the Everton area. Better is still well short of good, but it’s a start. 20’- The hosts have the ball in the back of the net from a corner. Garner heads it forward and it falls to O’Brien, who taps home from close range. He’s 3 yards offside, so it’s an easy call for the linesman. 25’- Close! The Foxes play a corner to the front post. Justin’s shot is block and falls to Kristiansen. His rasping effort goes just over the bar. 33’- Close! Garner makes a marauding run into the box and shoots from a tight angle. It comes off the post, nearly sneaking in. 45’- Close! Mykolenko picks out Doucoure in the box. He hits it first time and skies it over the bar. He should have done better. 45+2’- GOAL! Leicester are undone by another simple, direct ball. Beto’s run splits the defenders and Garner’s through ball is perfect. The striker just has to pick his spot and slot home. * * * 46’- Shockingly, there are no changes for the Foxes at the half. 53’- Beto gets behind Vestergaard again, but Faes is back to cover. In fairness, the Dane did a fine job delaying the striker. 60’- Caleb Okoli and Patson Daka are on for Vestergaard and Vardy. 66’- Nothing is happening. Sigh. 74’- Close! Beto retrieves a long cross and tees up the unmarked Linstrom just 8 yards out. It’s a fine save by Hermansen, but he shouldn’t have been given the chance. 76’- Justin and De Cordova-Reid are off for Woyo Coulibaly and Stephy Mavididi. 78’- Daka gets a shot on target. It’s an easy save for Pickford. It’s the first City effort on frame. 90+1- GOAL! Faes and Okoli show what happens when two defenders are on different wavelengths, gifting the ball to the hosts. Ndiaye waltzes through the City defence and sends Hermansen the wrong way. Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images _Ndiaye’s famous goal celebration, protesting against too much peace._

Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images _A torrid start to the second-half earns a much-needed win for the Foxes_ **Recap:** Leicester City came from behind to beat Tottenham Hotspur by a score of 2-1 in London on Sunday. Richarlison’s headed goal gave the hosts the lead at the half. Within five minutes of the restart, the Foxes had scored twice, with Jamie Vardy and Bilal El Khannouss finding the back of the next. City held on for the next (what felt like) four hours to claim the three points. > Sunday… whatcha got? I got Tottenham v. LCFC in about 25 minutes… which would be fun but I’m a Tottenham fan. Surely it’s not too early for a Guinness?? #COYS #TTID #TTTKM > > — jennifer (@genypher.bsky.social) 2025-01-26T13:35:48.434Z _There is no such thing as “too early for a Guinness.”_ It wasn’t a dominant performance and if you want to nitpick, you could say we probably only deserved a draw. We’re in far to precarious a position to overly concern ourselves with such things. City made two really good chances and scored from both of them while Jakub Stolarczyk was an absolute unit between the sticks. What was different today? Well, we were clinical, but one of the things that really helped was that Boubakary Soumare spent far more time making himself an outlet for the defence. That didn’t eliminate the turnovers, but it reduced them. The wing play Jordan Ayew and Bobby De Cordova-Reid got the job done. It wasn’t pretty, and in a perfect world, I would still want to see Stephy Mavididi and Abdul Fatawu out there, but this pairing got the job done. Concerns remain, of course. Wout Faes and Jannik Vestergaard were both exposed at times, for concentration and pace, respectively. Harry Winks’ passing is perilously loose at times but he did stick to his defensive responsibilities. You can find a lot not to like from today if you want to. I choose to look at the performance as “good enough” and leave it at that. **3 Takeaway:** * Stolarczyk can really keep the ball out of the back of the net. He was excellent today in his shot-stopping and positioning. I’m not saying that we’re going to have a difficult decision to make when Hermansen returns, but I do think we have two legitimate goalkeepers. * The secret formula for overcoming bad form is to find an opponent in even worse form. * I do not think I will ever like the 4-2-3-1. I know that’s a “me” issue, but I just. don’t. like. it. The victory gives Leicester 17 points from 23 matches. That’s good enough for 17th on the table, which, as you probably know, is a much better place than 19th. There’s no cushion; Wolves and Ipswich are just a point behind us, but they _are_ behind us. We travel to Goodison Park next Saturday to take on Everton and then it’s off to Old Trafford to square off against Manchester United in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Leicester City: Jakub Stolarczyk, James Justin (Woyo Coulibaly 90+4’), Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard, Victor Kristiansen, Boubakary Soumare, Harry Winks, Bilal El Khannouss (Facundo Buonanotte 77’), Jordan Ayew (Conor Coady 87’), Bobby De Cordova-Reid (Oliver Skipp 87’), Jamie Vardy (Patson Daka 77’) (C) Tottenham Hotspur: Antonin Kinsky, Archie Gray, Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies, Pedro Porro, Pape Matar Sarr, Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall, Richarlison, Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski * * * **Key Moments and Notes:** 2’- Great anticipation from El Khannouss to anticipate a backpass and win the ball in midfield. Nothing comes of it, but it’s encouraging. 6’- Justin gives away a cheap free kick, fouling Son on the wing. Stolarczyk does a fine job of punching the cross away. 10’- Kristiansen gets the ball in acres of space down the left. He cuts it back for Ayew at the top of the area, and “acres of space” seriously understates how much room he has. He hits it first-time and it's easily blocked. 14’- Close! A low cross takes several deflections before Porro on the right. His shot has some venom on it but Stolarczyk is equal to it. Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images _Massive, massive game. MOTM for me._ 18’- Close! Son drifts inside on his right foot and leaves Ayew in his wake. His shot may just be curling inside the far post but Stolarczyk just turns it around the post at full stretch. 30’- Neither side look confident in defence, but they’re making up for it by not looking confident in attack. This has not been a scintillating affair. 33’- GOAL! Richarlison loses Faes at the far post to meet Porro’s cross. Really poor from the defender who just didn’t track the Brazilian’s run. 39’- The Foxes are struggling to create chances. Other than some awkwardly deflected shots, the response to the goal has been very tame. 45+1’- The referee blows the whistle on a first half with precisely one moment of quality and thus, one goal. Leicester have to be better in the second half. * * * 46’- GOAL! Kristiansen gets wiped out in midfield but the referee plays advantage. Soumare finds De Cordova-Reid and his low cross somehow wriggles through to Vardy alone in front of the goalmouth. He smashes home and we’re level. > 47': 1-1 THANK YOU JAMIE VARDY!!!! #LCFC #TOTLEI #PremierLeague > > — Atlanta Foxes (@lcfcatlanta.bsky.social) 2025-01-26T15:06:19.188Z _I’m pretty sure this isn’t the video of this goal. It looks familiar for some reason..._ 50’- GOAL! Soumare wins the ball and finds De Cordova-Reid. He slips it to El Khannouss, who is allowed to advance to the edge of the “D” unopposed. He passes the ball just outside of Kinsky’s reach and inside the far post. Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images _Go ahead and celebrate, lad. That was inch-perfect._ 54’- Close! A cross from the right finds Vardy just 8 yards from goal. He hits his volley sweetly, but it strikes Dragusin and bounces to safety. 58’- Close! A ball over the top finds Kulusevski’s run and he’s behind the entire defence. Stolarczyk does incredibly well to get a hand to the deflected shot and keep it out of the net. 62’- Close! Porro’s free kick is deflected by Vardy and it beats Stolarczyk. The crossbar comes to the rescue. 71’- The match has become very stop/start and scrappy. The City players are taking their time with every dead ball. 77’- Facundo Buonanotte and Patson Daka come on for the goalscorers, Vardy and El Khannouss. 78’- And Buonanotte is immediately in the book. Can’t argue with that one. 87’- Conor Coady and Oliver Skipp come on for De Cordova-Reid and Ayew. 90’- We have SEVEN minutes of time added on to play. 90+4’- Justin is off for Woyo Coulibaly who makes his Leicester debut. 90+9’- That’s it! The Foxes take all three points.

Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images We got what we deserved **Recap** Leicester City dropped all three points against Fulham at the King Power on Saturday afternoon. The first half was reasonably even, with the Foxes starting stronger but the Cottagers looking more dangerous as the half wore on. After the break, it was exactly like Wednesday’s match. A cheap goal by Emile Smith Rowe right after the break put City behind, and Adama Traore scored midway through the half to seal it. While the scoreline and basic narrative were similar to those of the Crystal Palace match, this was a far poorer performance. Leicester never really looked like scoring and Fulham were far more dangerous than Palace. Or, to look at it in a less flattering way, Leicester were far worse than they were midweek. It doesn’t look good, does it? I say this later in the real-time updates, but this is not an effort problem. The work is there, but there’s no belief at all. Everyone is trying to make it happen by themselves. It’s not working. If a club ever needed an international break, it’s this one. Did anyone impress today? Eh, not really. El Khannouss was good when he got on the ball. Soumare is growing and learning to be more physical, which is something he desperately needed. Kristiansen is improving, and Faes was probably the best of the back line. But none of those performances would have stood out in a winning effort. They were the best of a bad lot. **3 Takeaways** * This is usually Vardy’s worst time of the year, and he’s struggling. Mightily. * I don’t see a plan. Do you? Does anyone? * Counting on Justin and Kristiansen for width hasn’t really worked, has it? The setback leaves us on 14 points from 22 matches. To put that in perspective, we need 26 from the final 16 to get to 40 points. I am not holding my breath. We travel to London to face James Maddison and Tottenham Hotspur next Sunday. We kick of our February schedule on the 1st at Goodison Park against Everton. > TheOther14 Baseline Tracker table after the Wednesday night games of #PremierLeague week 21. @theother14.bsky.social #NUFC #NFFC #AFCB #AVFC #BHAFC #CPFC #WHUFC #BrentfordFC #FFC #WWFC #ITFC #EFC #LCFC #SaintsFC > > — TheOther14 (@theother14.bsky.social) 2025-01-15T21:35:21.694Z Leicester City: Jakub Stolarczyk, James Justin, Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard, Victor Kristiansen, Boubakary Soumare, Harry Winks (Oliver Skipp 64’), Jordan Ayew (Facundo Buonanotte 71’), Bilal El Khannouss (Kasey McAteer 64’), Stephy Mavididi (Patson Daka 71’), Jamie Vardy (C) Fulham: Bernd Leno, Timothy Castagne, Joachim Andersen, Calvin Bassey, Antonee Robinson, Sasa Lukic, Sander Berge, Harry Wilson, Emile Smith-Rowe, Alex Iwobi, Raul Jimenez * * * **Key Moments and Notes** 2’- Close! An early Foxes’ attack sees the ball fall at Ayew’s feet just yards from the goal line. He’s going down under Raul’s challenge but he gets the shot off and hits Leno in the chest. 5’- Ayew sends Vardy in behind the Fulham defence. He’s forced wide and whips in a low cross for Mavididi at the far post. Castagne just gets a toe to it to put it behind for a corner. 12’- El Khannouss bravely goes into a 50-50 with Joachim Andersen and comes off worse. He gets the free kick, but he needs some treatment. 20’- Fulham are pressing the Leicester outlets and forcing the fullbacks to go long. Bassey is devouring anything that comes close to him, so City are struggling to build anything right now. 24’- Did the referee just play advantage on an offside call? You don’t see that every day. 29’- Kristiansen takes on the entire Fulham defence and very nearly scores a stunner. He does everything right, but on his weaker right peg he can’t get the curl he needs to find the back of the net. 34’- Close! Iwobi drifts in towards the back posts and stands up one of those cross/shots that gives goalkeepers nightmares. It looks like it might sneak in, but Stolarczyk turns it onto the crossbar. 37’- Smith Rowe manhandles Soumare and launches a Fulham attack. It’s worked to the other side and but Faes makes a marvelous blocking tackle to keep the ball out. 45+2’ Vestergaard is just standing over the ball. Both teams seem content to go into the tunnel level. Which they do. Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images * * * 46’- Fulham make one change at the half. Iwobi is off for Adama Traore. Leicester are unchanged. 48’- GOAL! A cross from the right flank catches the Foxes short on numbers at the back post. Wilson taps it across the box and Lukic heads it to Smith Rowe who nods home from very short range. 56’- Close! Mavididi tries his luck from a tight angle but Leno saves. 61’- The Foxes aren’t creating anything now and you sense the next goal will go the other way. 64’- Oliver Skipp and Kasey McAteer are on for Winks and El Khannouss 67’- GOAL! Fulham swing the ball around like Barca. Smith Rowe finds Wilson on the right. He chips in a cross to the back post and Adama volleys home from 10 yards. No one was anywhere near the winger. 71’- Mavididi and Ayew are off for Facundo Buonanotte and Patson Daka. 75’- Strange passage of play. Andersen wipes out Buonanotte, going straight through his back with no attempt to play the ball directly in front of the referee. The intent was to commit a foul and Andersen looks as surprised as anyone nothing is called. Then, Soumare does the same thing and gets whistled. Hmmm... _There are no highlights worthy of showing, so I just typed “tree” into the CMS to see what I got_ 80’- We’re seeing massive effort from City, but there’s no belief and no end product. 90+5’- City never mounted a serious threat. Fulham look far more likely to add a third than anything else. The whistle goes. Inevitable. > #LCFC probably need 7 wins from their remaining 17 matches to avoid relegation, when you can't beat the 15th team in the league at home, then things look very bad. Who believes we can beat Saints, Ipswich, Wolves, Spurs, Everton, Manu & West ham - the closest 7 clubs? > > — An Old Man (@vieuxfox.bsky.social) 2025-01-17T11:22:30.515Z Make it 7 from 16 now.

Photo by Cameron Smith - Danehouse/Getty Images _Foxes fall to clinical Eagles in a match they needed to win_ **Recap** Leicester City fell to Crystal Palace by a score of 2-0 at the King Power on Wednesday evening. The Foxes dominated the first half but failed to find the final touch to break the deadlock. Goals from Jean-Phillipe Mateta and Mark Guehi gave the Eagles a two-goal edge that proved the final margin. The Foxes ended the match with almost 60% of the possession and 20 shots to Palace’s 9, but it was all for nought. It wasn’t a bad performance, but it was a bad result and that is so much worse for van Nistelrooy’s charges. The defence switched off twice and both times the ball wound up in the back of the net. It’s starting to feel like it is going to be One Of Those Years, but I said that in January of 2014 as well. The attacking midfield were again the star men, but I’d like to give some love to Boubakary Soumare who had one of his best matches yet for the club. He handled his defensive duties and made himself available as an outlet for the back line. He even hit the crossbar with a truly odd shot. I’ve not been one of his biggest fans, but this was a solid performance. **3 Takeaways** * Results > Performances * Vardy is still our primary threat and that is both glorious and deeply worrying. * The fans started leaving awfully early. I don’t blame them but that bodes ill.. The defeat leaves us anchored in 19th on the table with 14 points from 21 matches. We’re only two points from safety, but the two clubs in front of us have a game in hand. It’s...not good. We host Fulham this Saturday in a match that’s dangerously close to being “must-win.” A week from Sunday, we’re off to London to face Tottenham Hotspur. Leicester City: Jakub Stolarczyk, James Justin (Jordan Ayew 80’), Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard, Victor Kristiansen, Harry Winks (Oliver Skipp 66’), Boubakary Soumare, Facundo Buonanotte (Kasey McAteer 66’), Bilal El Khannouss (Patson Daka 66’), Stephy Mavididi, Jamie Vardy Crystal Palace: Dean Henderson, Maxence Lacroix, Marc Guehi, Chris Richards, Jefferson Lerma, Will Hughes, Tyrick Mitchell, Daniel Munoz, Jean-Phillipe Mateta, Eberechi Eze, Ismaïla Sarr * * * **Key Moments and Notes** 1’- Good atmosphere at the King Power tonight. Scoring six in the previous match will do that. 3’- Vardy gets off a couple shots in the first two minutes. He looks in the mood tonight. Here’s hoping the Palace fans get on his back. 14’- The Foxes are well on top right now. Palace are struggling to get out of their own half. El Khannouss and Mavididi are starting to get more involved. 20’- Doucoure is down and he’s not going to be able to continue. Jefferson Lerma is on in his stead. 31’- Close! That would have been some goal. Buonanotte’s long range effort is going in, but it’s well saved. Justin is providing some fine crosses tonight. 40’- Doesn’t look like anyone is going to break the deadlock before the half. 45+3- The Foxes dominated the first half with two-thirds of the possession and limiting the visitors to zero shots on target. Will City make their advantage pay, or will they regret their lack of clinical finishing? Photo by Cameron Smith - Danehouse/Getty Images _Let it never be said the man gives less than 100%_ * * * 46’- No change to either side to start the second half. Can the Foxes find the a way through? 52’- GOAL! Sarr finds Mateta at the far post and he slots home from close range. Too easy. 61’- Close! The Eagles play the ball out of the press and Sarr plays an absolutely perfect through pull that puts Mitchell in one-on-one with Stolarczyk. The Pole makes himself big and blocks the shot. 65’- Close! Kristiansen finds Vardy in traffic in front of the Palace goal. It’s behind him, so he tries to redirect it with his back foot. It drifts just wide. 66’- Manager Ruud van Nistelrooy makes a triple change, sending on Patson Daka, Kasey McAteer, and Oliver Skipp for El Khannouss, Buonanotte, and Winks. 68’- Close! The Eagles turn it over in midfield. Vardy finds McAteer who slips it to Daka. It’s a difficult angle and he puts it just wide. The keeper probably had it covered. 69’- Close! McAteer finds Soumare in the box. The midfielder hits it first time and it comes off the crossbar. Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images _This wasn’t the shot. It was an odd one. Wish I had a photo._ 71’- Close! McAteer crosses to the far post and the keeper is completely absent. Vardy races onto it but can’t get it on target. Probably need to let that run to Mavididi. 77’- GOAL! Disaster for the Foxes. A simple free kick over the top is met by Guehi who just guides it into the net. How did he get behind his marker? 81’- Justin comes off for late-goal specialist Jordan Ayew. Fingers crossed. 88’- Close! Ayew’s corner is met by Mavididi. It’s a clean header, but it’s just wide of the far post. 90+3’- Ayew lines up a free kick from 35 yards. He’s scored from there for Ghana, but this is an easy take for the keeper. 90+5’- Full time.

_He is almost as close to the net as he was when he scored._ | Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images _The Foxes kick off their FA Cup campaign with a fireworks display_ **Recap** Leicester City pummelled Queens Park Rangers at the King Power in Saturday’s third-round FA Cup tie. James Justin opened the scoring for the Foxes, but Jonathan Varane quickly equalised for the visitors. Stephy Mavididi and Facundo Buonanotte gave City a two-goal advantage before Rayan Kolli pulled one back for Rangers before the break. A Jamie Vardy penalty early in the second half restored the cushion and killed QPR’s resistance. Justin bagged a second and Wout Faes scored a screamer from distance in injury time to provide the final margin. I’ll start with the bad stuff: QPR were the better side for the opening half-hour of the match and both of their goals were the result of some sloppy play by Winks, who should know better. I am...unconvinced...by the Winks/Soumare pairing in midfield. Other than that? Great match! We put 60% of our shots on target and scored from all six of them so that ticks the “clinical” box. The midfielders behind Vardy (Mavididi, Buonanotte, and El Khannouss) were dynamic in possession and worked hard tracking back. The fullbacks were good today. It’s been a minute since I could say that, so I wanted to start a paragraph with that even though this isn’t _really_ a paragraph. Some people are going to say “Oh, it was only QPR.” Those people are technically correct, but you may recall our 0-0 draw against Walsall this year. This could easily have been One Of Those Matches, so credit to the manager and the squad for getting the job done. Will this spark a revival for the team? I have no clue. It felt great, though. **3 Takeaways** * A goalkeeping clinic this was not. Jakub Stolarczyk saved the first shot on target of the match. It was the only save by either keeper. * He’s not on the scoresheet, but El Khannouss was rampant today. He set up Mavididi’s and Buonanotte’s goals and worked extremely hard in defence. He’s looking better every match, and he already looks pretty good. * I was genuinely shocked that van Nistelrooy used not only his best available starting lineup but his standard substitution pattern as well. One gets the sense he was sending a message. The victory sees the Foxes through to the fourth round of the cup. The draw will be held tomorrow following the Arsenal-Manchester United match. Next on the docket, we’ll see Crystal Palace visit the King Power on Wednesday. One week from today we host Fulham in what will almost certainly not be called “The Bobby De Cordova-Reid Derby.” Leicester City: Jakub Stolarczyk, James Justin, Conor Coady, Wout Faes, Victor Kristiansen, Boubakary Soumare, Harry Winks (Oliver Skipp 60’), Facundo Buonanotte, Bilal El Khannouss (Jordan Ayew 60’), Stephy Mavididi, Jamie Vardy (C) (Patson Daka 60’) Queens Park Rangers: Joe Walsh, Jake Clark-Salter, Ronnie Edwards, Kenneth Paal, Harrison Ashby, Nicolas Madsen, Jonathan Varane, Sam Field, Rayan Kolli, Ilias Chair, Koki Saito > Threatening the government of our team was a step too far, so we've moved here! #LCFC #PremierLeague > > — Atlanta Foxes (@lcfcatlanta.bsky.social) 2025-01-06T15:31:10.949Z _Looking for an account to follow? This is a good one._ * * * 1’- The King Power is shrouded in fog this morning as the Foxes trot out a shockingly strong side. My guess is that this not being a midweek match played a big role in van Nistelrooy’s thinking. 6’- QPR fail to deal with a speculative ball by Kristiansen, allowing Mavididi to pounce on it with the keeper in no-man's-land. He can’t find an angle for a pass or a shot and the chance passes. 10’- GOAL! El Khannouss wins a free kick on the left wing. Buonanotte takes it, swinging it across the face of the goal. James Justin reacts first and pokes it into the back of the net. Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images _You just know they want Coady to walk under the bridge..._ 17’- Close! Former Leicester target Chair finds a little space on the edge of the area and takes his chances. It’s a fine effort, but Stolarczyk makes an excellent save. 19’- GOAL! Winks wins the ball and then gives it away cheaply outside his own area. Varane hits it first time and there’s nothing Stolarczyk can do about this one. That was a full 30 yards out. Oof. 27’- Close! A rare City attack sees El Khannouss pull the ball back for Buonanotte. His shot is block, but it dribbles to Vardy just five yards from the open net. He puts it over the bar. Somehow. 29’- Close! Stolarczyk’s clearance goes straight to Saito. He finds Kolli in ten yards of space between Coady and Faes. The teenager puts it over when he should have at least hit the target. 35’- GOAL! QPR turn the ball over deep in their own half. Mavididi pounces and finds El Khannouss. The Moroccan returns it and the winger slots home from twelve yards. That was against the run of play. Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images _No Stephy, that was the second goal._ 39’- GOAL! Buonanotte carries it forward and finds Mavididi on the wing. He spots El Khannouss’ run and the former Genk man stands up a perfect cross. Buonanotte meets it in full flight. 3-1 to the Foxes. Photo by Alex Livesey - Danehouse/Getty Images _I know it’s not in the cards, but I’d love to sign him permanently_ 45+1’- GOAL! Oh my. Winks tries a back pass but instead plays a perfect through ball for Kolli, who pounces on it and slots past Stolarczyk. The Foxes lead 3-2 at the half. * * * 46’- No changes for either side at the break. Off we go! 50’- GOAL! Mavididi tries to clip the ball into the box and Ashby blocks it. With his arm. High above his head. It’s a penalty all day long. Birthday boy Vardy sends Walsh the wrong way to restore the two-goal advantage. > Birthday boy Jamie Vardy - 38 today - helps himself to a goal against QPR from the penalty spot. Leicester now lead QPR 5-2 thanks to James Justin's second of the afternoon. #LCFC | #LEIQPR | #FACup > > — The Athletic | Football (@theathleticfc.bsky.social) 2025-01-11T15:34:36.510Z 60’- The penalty seems to have stunned the visitors as they haven’t offered much over the last ten minutes. Van Nistelrooy makes a triple substitution, sending Oliver Skipp, Patson Daka, and Jordan Ayew into the fray for Winks, Vardy, and El Khannouss. 62’ - GOAL! Skipp’s first contribution is to play a long ball on the deck for Daka. The Zambian finds Justin’s run on the right and the fullback finishes brilliantly off the far post. 5-2 to the Foxes if you’re keeping score. Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images _Still probably should have returned it to Daka, but we’ll let it slide._ 65’- The gaffer withdraws Mavididi and introduces Kasey McAteer who is just returning from injury. 76’- There is nothing to report. The match is happening, but it’s not “happening” if you know what I mean. 81’- Bobby De Cordova-Reid comes on for Buonanotte. 90+2’ - GOAL! That’s a goal of the season candidate. Faes wins the ball just inside the QPR half. He charges forward and takes aim from over 30 yards. It’s a screamer that finds the inside of the side netting. Take a bow, son.

Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images Second half mistakes doom the Foxes to another defeat **Recap** Leicester City left Villa Park with nothing to show for their efforts on Saturday afternoon, falling by a score of 2-1. A very even first half saw the sides go into the tunnel level on no goals. Second half strikes from Ross Barkley and Leon Bailey on either side of a Stephy Mavididi goal gave the hosts the...I hate to say this...deserved victory. > It's not difficult to see what the problems are, calamitous individual mistakes and xG's like today (0.36). #LCFC > > — GlennTheFoxile (@glennthefoxile.bsky.social) 2025-01-04T17:07:05.757Z _I’ll have to check my maths, but by my reckoning, 0.36 is a very small number._ The Foxes were so tight and organized in the first half that there were no efforts on goal until injury time. It was an impressive 45 minutes of football that left one with the impression that there was a point or three to be had. Unfortunately, the Villans made adjustments at the half and the Foxes were on the back foot. Both goals came from a failure of defenders to help out their teammates which makes them especially disappointing. I’m impressed that van Nistelrooy seems to grasp that the defence is what needs the most shoring up; strikers-turned-managers often struggle with that aspect of the game. I’d argue that we’ve seen progress over the last two matches (and don’t kid yourself, Villa Park is a brutal place to try to get points), but we’re in a position where points are more important than progress. Good match today from Ayew who has exceeded my expectations, and Vestergaard, who is very good at what he does so long as you don’t ask too much of him. It was another rough outing from Justin. His teammates put him in a bad spot, but he’s still responsible for making a poor pass instead of putting it or even behind when under pressure. The Winks/Soumare partnership in central midfield isn’t really working. With a double pivot, your fullback should have an outlet. **3 Takeaways** * I was encouraged by Luke Thomas. He’s much tidier on the ball than Kristiansen and, while he lacks the Dane’s athleticism, he wasn’t noticeably worse when defending. * Vardy still has great quickness and anticipation, but the pace is gone. Ayew beating him down the pitch was painful to watch. * Mavididi continues to prove that he’s a Premier League-quality winger. He’s not dominant like he was in the Championship, but he can play at this level. The defeat leaves Leicester on 14 points from 20 matches. We remain 19th on the table (boo) but only 3 points out of 16th (yay) but the three teams ahead of us all have a game in hand (boo). We’re in trouble. We host Queens Park Rangers next Saturday, kicking off our FA Cup campaign that I am hoping no one cares about. On Wednesday the 15th, Crystal Palace pay a visit to the King Power in the first of many matches we need to get something out of. Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images _And we get to see a man who scored a hat trick on his senior debut for the Foxes_ Leicester City: Jakub Stolarczyk, James Justin, Conor Coady (Caleb Okoli 82’), Jannik Vestergaard (Wout Faes 60’), Luke Thomas (Bobby De Cordova-Reid 90’), Boubakary Soumare, Harry Winks, Jordan Ayew (Patson Daka 82’), Bilal El Khannouss (Facundo Buonanotte 82’), Stephy Mavididi, Jamie Vardy (C) Aston Villa: Emiliano Martínez, Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa, Lucas Digne, Matty Cash, Youri Tielemans, Ross Barkley, Boubacar Kamara, Ollie Watkins, John McGinn, Leon Bailey * * * **Key Moments and Notes** 1’- There’s a big gap on the table, but this match doesn’t feel like a mismatch. Maybe that’s because we’ve seen Newcastle, Liverpool, and Manchester City recently, but I don’t think it’s unrealistic to think we could get something out of this one. 10’- The match is being played in the midfield and the keepers are essentially spectators. It hasn’t been poor football, but there hasn’t been a lot of action in the final thirds. 17’- Villa captain John McGinn has to go off with what appears to be a hamstring problem. Jacob Ramsey is on for him. 25’- Ayew plays a nice low cross to the near post but everyone is lined up on the opposite side. We might want to consider making runs to different areas. 33’- A poor clearance from Cash gifts the ball to El Khannouss deep in the Villa half. He has Vardy on his left and Mavididi on the even more to the left, but he decides to go it alone and blasts the ball into the upper deck. For those of you keeping track at home, the correct ball would have been to play in Vardy. 45+3’- Close! Villa send the first dangerous ball of the match into the box. It deflects off a Leicester foot and Thomas does well to take it off the foot of Watkins. Mavidid challenges Kamara and there’s contact, but the referee waves it away. Cash tries his luck from distance and Stolarczyk makes the first save of the match. VAR looks at the Mavididi challenge and confirms the call of the pitch. It’s probably the right call, but (sing along with me now) you’ve seen them given. * * * 47’- No changes for either side at the half. Villa get the ball forward quickly and Tielemans takes a pop from outside the area. It’s not a vintage effort and Stolarczyk makes a comfortable save. 48’- Close! Mings and Cash fail to deal with a cross and it falls to El Khannouss. He pulls it back for Mavididi who has most of the goalmouth at his mercy. He somehow puts it 20 yards wide. 56’- GOAL! Tielemans pumps a ball into the Leicester box. Vestergaard gets his head to it, but only goes as far as Ross Barkley on the edge of the area. His strike is perfect, but why was he in so much space? The world wonders. 60’- Vestergaard goes down and he’s clutching his leg. He won’t be able to continue and Wout Faes comes on for him. 63’- GOAL! Ayew nicks the ball in midfield and tears down the right. He has to wait for support. Vardy gets across his man and Martinez makes the save, but he spills it and Mavididi taps home from close range. Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images _The one good moment_ 77’- GOAL! Shambolic from Leicester. Justin has the ball but no outlet. He loses out to substitute Ian Maatsen. He puts it on a plate for Leon Bailey, who scores from close range. > Actually can't believe Justin this season. Can count the number of games where he *hasn't* gifted the opposition a goal on one hand. Gross. #lcfc > > — Alex (@alexvio.bsky.social) 2025-01-04T16:42:27.959Z 82’- Caleb Okoli, Patson Daka, and Facundo Buonanotte are on for Coady, Ayew, and El Khannouss. 84’- Close! Villa break down the left through Bailey. He hits the woodwork and it falls to Buendia. His goalbound shot is blocked by Okoli. It comes back to Watkins and he puts it over from close range. 90’- Bobby De Cordova-Reid is on for Luke Thomas. Five minutes will be added on. 90+6’- The whistle goes and Leicester never mounted a late flurry. Disappointing.

Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images _Another improved performance, another defeat_ **Recap** Leicester City fell by a score of 2-0 to Manchester City at the King Power on Sunday. A first-half strike by Savinho after an error by Jakub Stolarczyk gave the visitors the lead at the break. Erling Haaland doubled the advantage after the break, heading home a Savinho cross. > Off to see Leicester City v Manchester City this afternoon. Here’s a snow dusted Filbert Street 1970s in better times (Performance wise) #LeicesterCity #LCFC > > — Des (@desdelboy.bsky.social) 2024-12-29T11:21:01.743Z _Any excuse to post a photo of Filbo...sigh._ The scoreline suggests that this was a comfortable match for Manchester City. It wasn’t like that at all. The Foxes didn’t dominate, but they did look dangerous for long spells, hit the woodwork twice, and carved out many more presentable opportunities. This isn’t like the Liverpool match where we were clinical and scored with our only real chance; we went toe to toe with them and just couldn’t get the shots where they needed to be. That is to say, this was somehow one of our better performances. I know this Manchester City side isn’t, you know, _Manchester City_ , but the xG for the match was 1.33 - 1.40 and it felt like it was that close. The midfield box of Winks, Soumare, Buonanotte, and El Khannouss played through the press time and again, playing crisp, confident passes that looking very much like a side that will climb out of the relegation zone sooner rather than later. It wasn’t perfect, of course. We did lose after all. Stolarczyk will regret not pushing Foden’s shot behind, but these things happen. The width-providing fullbacks haven’t really created much in the way of chances this year and that remains a concern. And, as great as his movement was, Vardy left his scoring boot at home today. I’ll say this though: The team looked confident, organised, and very much on the same page today. If we keep playing like we did today? We’ll be fine. I know “ _if”_ is doing a lot of lifting there, but it felt like we had the right players on the pitch executing the right game plan and that’s something we haven’t seen a lot of this year. **3 Takeaways** * I’d like to think our attackers were playing really well, but I can’t shake the suspicion that the Man City midfield and defence just aren’t very good this year. * If this is what van Nistelrooy football looks like? We made a great hire. * I really need to rethink this section as I gave away my “takeaways” in the recap. This probably won’t be here next year. The defeat leaves us on 14 points from 19 matches. That’s the halfway mark, so we’re on pace for 28 points and that is a big, big problem. We remain 18th on the table, one point behind Wolves (who are currently down 2-1 against Spurs). We travel to Villa Park in 6 days to face Aston Villa and then kick off our FA Cup campaign on the 11th, hosting the hated Queens Park Rangers. Leicester City: Jakub Stolarczyk, James Justin (Hamza Choudhury 70’), Conor Coady (Caleb Okoli 85’), Jannik Vestergaard, Victor Kristiansen, Boubakary Soumare, Harry Winks (Patson Daka 85’), Facundo Buonanotte, Bilal El Khannouss, Stephy Mavididi (Wil Alves 91’), Jamie Vardy (C) Manchester City: Stefan Ortega, Rico Lewis, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake, Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic, Savinho, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Erling Haaland > Matchday! #LCFC > > — The Fosse Way (@thefosseway.net) 2024-12-29T10:04:09.036Z _It wasn’t that bad...calm down._ * * * **Key Moments and Notes** 1’- We’re off and the match settles into the pace it will be played at for most of the afternoon: Manchester City are almost painfully patient on the ball and will dominate possession. 8’- Close! The first big chance goes to the visitors. De Bruyne gets in behind on the right and his cuts the ball back to Halland. He hits it first time and it’s a decent effort, but Stolarczyk saves with his trailing leg. 10’- Buonanotte finds Vardy over the top. Ortega comes for it but Vardy gets there first. He knocks it past the keeper and goes down (fairly easily) and the referee has a big decision to make...or does he? The offside flag is up. It’s close, but it’s the right call. 15’- Vardy gets in behind again but he’s just offside again. We’re going to see a lot of that. 19’- Gvardiol tries to head a long ball back to his keeper, but he leaves it short and Vardy pounces, Sanchez puts his shot behind for a corner which probably would have come to nothing, but we’ll never know because Soumare committed a foul before it was taken. 21’- GOAL! Foden tries a speculative effort from long distance. Stolarczyk parries it but not nearly far enough. Savinho pounces and scores from short range. 33’- Close! El Khannouss sends in a low, curling cross from the right and it’s more inviting than...something that’s really inviting. Look, it’s early and I didn’t get a lot of sleep. Anyway, Justin leaves it for Vardy. Vardy leaves it for Buonanotte, and the Argentine just needs a touch to tap it into the net, but he can’t quite get there. Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images _The man was really good today._ 36’- Close! Haaland carries it through the entire defence and creates enough space that you’d expect him to score. He puts it just wide of the post. Stolarczyk may have had it covered. “May” is doing a lot of lifting there. 37’- Close! Vardy runs onto another through ball and he sure looks offside, but the flag stays down. He slips it to Justin, who only has Sanchez to beat. He does not beat Sanchez. 38’- Close! El Khannouss stands up a cross from the left this time. Justin gets a head to it only to see his effort blocked. Buonanotte tries to nod home the second ball and Sanchez lets it fly, which is an odd choice as it comes off the post. 45+1’- De Bruyne robs Soumare just outside the Leicester penalty area. The defenders do well to snuff out the attack because that was...not good. 45+2’- That’s half time. The Foxes trail a goal to nil but they are very much in this match. * * * 46’- No changes at the half. One thing I got very wrong is that the Foxes actually bossed possession in the first half..well, we had more than 50% which, against Man City? That’s impressive. 50’- Close! El Khannouss slips in Buonanotte and he has to hit ..but he doesn’t. He tries to cut back and falls down. He wants a penalty, but he’ll never get that call. You have to take that shot first-time. Even if the keeper spills it, Vardy is _right there_. 58’- Buonanotte wins a free kick on the edge of the visitor’s area. The Foxes try an elaborate routine that doesn’t come off at all. 62’- Close! This free kick works a little better. It finds Coady at the back post. His crosses to the opposite side and Vardy heads across the face of goal. Justin flicks it goalward and beats Sanchez, but Akanji clears it off the line. 68’- Close! Mavididi chips it into the area and finds Vardy’s run. He attempts to volley from close range and puts it over. Sigh. 70’- Hamza Choudhury comes on for James Justin. 75’- GOAL! OK, let’s be honest here: If there’s a ball floated into the box, it’s going to go to Haaland, right? So maybe, don’t leave him _completely unmarked_? Just a thought. Anyway, it’s a fine cross from Savinho and Haaland isn’t going to miss from six yards. Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images _Not sure that anyone in our side would have been able to outleap him, but it would have been fun to try._ 80’- Close! El Khannouss finds Choudhury in acres of space on the right. He fires in a low cross/shot that in the end is neither. Vardy was _right there_ too. 84’- Winks and Coady come off in favour of Patson Daka and Caleb Okoli. 89’- Close! Mavididi finds Vardy with a lobbed ball that leaves the striker a lot to do. He gets up and heads it towards goal and...it hits the crossbar. That didn’t miss by much. 90+1’- Wil Alves is on for Mavididi. Choudhury does incredible work getting into the box, showing pace I didn’t know (or remember, rather) he had. He cuts it back but no one has made a late run. 90+5’- Close! The Foxes win a late corner and it finds Vestgaard at the far post. His header is on target, but Sanchez gathers comfortably. That’s the last kick...head...of the match.

Photo by Copa/Getty Images A strong effort cannot overcome the gap in talent **Recap** Leicester City fought fiercely but ultimately were outclassed by Liverpool by a score of 3-1 on Boxing Day at Anfield. Jordan Ayew gave the Foxes a shock lead, only for Cody Gakpo to level just before half-time. Goals in the second half from Curtis Jones and Mo Salah gave the hosts the entirety of the spoils. I doubt that anyone is shocked that Liverpool won this match. I doubt that many expected the Foxes to lead for as long as they did. The scoreline might not reflect it, but this was a dedicated team effort that saw the team defend as well as they have this season and actually look dangerous going forward. It’s hard to look at a 3-1 defeat as “progress”...unless you saw the last two matches. My belief is that the team ran out of gas around the hour mark. They were still only down by a single goal at that point, but you could tell the constant defending was taking its toll. Justifiably, van Nistelrooy believed the system was working and made like-for-like changes, but the momentum inevitably slipped away from the Foxes. As my sister (and Liverpool supporter) said: “Neither team did anything wrong; Liverpool are just the more talented team.” That’s as fair as it is frustrating. One huge bright spot today was the return of Jakub Stolarczyk. He looked confident and very capable in goal today and I put our improved defensive effort partially down to his presence. I can’t really justify that impression, but it’s my impression nonetheless. There were definitely some good moments: Stephy Mavididi impressed on the wing, neither fullback got completely overrun, and Vestergaard’s long passing was deeply impressive. **3 Takeaways** * I expect we’ll be buying a fullback in January. The Foxes depend heavily on their fullbacks to provide width and, with both Justin and Kristiansen playing 90 minutes every match, we’re asking for an awful lot from the two of them. * Harry Winks isn’t a defensive midfielder. Properly used, he’s an inverted #10 (a playmaker who links the defence with midfield). He needs help at the back. * Patson Daka always puts in a shift and looks so good until it’s time to shoot. I present the following chart: _The “glass half full” types would say “he’s due!”_ The defeat leaves the Foxes on 14 points from 18 matches. Wolves’ victory today over Manchester United means we’re not 18th on the table which is...not good. We host Manchester City on Sunday and then travel to Villa Park to face Aston Villa for our first match of the New Year and the start of the second half of the season. Leicester City: Jakub Stolarczyk, James Justin, Conor Coady (C), Jannik Vestergaard, victor Kristiansen, Harry Winks (Oliver Skipp 64’), Boubakary Soumare, Bilal El Khannouss (Facundo Buonanotte), Stephy Mavididi, Jordan Ayew, Patson Daka Liverpool: Alisson, Virgil van dijk, Joe Gomez, Andrew Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo, Mo Salah * * * Key Moments and Notes: 1’- It’s extremely foggy on Merseyside today. I have no clue what impact this will have on the match, but a little chaos can’t hurt. > #LCFC #LFC | The view from inside the Anfield press box ‍ ️ > > — Owynn Palmer-Atkin (@owynnpalmeratkin.bsky.social) 2024-12-26T17:54:54.225Z 4’- Close! A brilliant cross to the far post from Gakpo finds Salah. Stolarczyk does well to block the initial effort. The rebound falls to Jones, but the ballis taken off his toes before he can score. 6’- GOAL! Mavididi breaks down the right and gets behind his man. His cutback is behind Daka but it finds Ayew with his back to goal. He turns and tucks it just inside the near post. 1-0 to the Foxes. 15’- The Foxes are holding their own. Liverpool look more likely to score, but it’s not one way traffic. 22’- Close! A ball over the top finds Gakpo behind the defence. His first touch is brilliant, but Stolarcyzk does well to prevent a second touch. 25’- Close! Salah takes on three men and sees his shot blocked. It loops up off of Kristiansen and just clears the post. From the ensuing corner, TAA sets up a Robertson header that comes off the post and Stolarcyzk does very well to prevent it from going in. 28’- The referee stops play to allow Daka to receive treatment. Virgil kicked through the Zambian’s foot to make a clearance. There was no malice in it, but it definitely left a mark. 36’- Gomez goes into the book for bringing down Daka to stop a rare Leicester break. 43’- Ayew’s now in the book for bringing down Gakpo. He’ll miss the Manchester City match on Saturday. 45’- Close! Winks gets robbed in midfield and Liverpool break. It falls to Salah, who has ages to curl it into the corner, but it comes off the bar. 45+2’- GOAL! Mac Allister wins the ball in midfield and finds Gakpo. He cuts inside and beats Stolarcyk with a screamer from outside the area. We’re level at the half. * * * 46’- No changes at the half. Not at I expected any. Both managers are probably pretty pleased with their sides. 49’- GOAL! Liverpool play approximately 100 passes in the Leicester defensive third. Daka and Soumare have chances to clear, but they can’t get it done. A cutback finds Jones in the six-yard box and he taps home from close range. It’s checked for Salah and Darwin being offside, but they’re just on. 2-1 to the Reds. > Please be offside.... #LIVLEI #LCFC > > — Vivian ⚽ HIATUS] (@vivianruhig.bsky.social) [2024-12-26T21:10:05.146Z _Not this time._ 59’- It’s all Liverpool right now. 60’- Close! Vestergaard plays a glorious ball to Mavididi behind Gomez. He puts it on a plate for Daka, but the Zambian completely miscues it when all he needed to do was direct it on target. 64’- Oliver Skipp and Facundo Buonanotte come on for Winks and El Khannouss. That’s about as like-for-like as it gets. 66’- Liverpool carve open the Foxes and cause chaos in the area. The ball rebounds to Gakpo who blasts home off of Justin. The flag goes up and, after another long, double-check, Darwin is found to have been offside. VAR is 2-for-2 in getting the calls right, but it’s been painful to watch. > Please be offside.... #LIVLEI #LCFC > > — Vivian ⚽ HIATUS] (@vivianruhig.bsky.social) [2024-12-26T21:10:05.146Z _Yes this time._ 78’- The Foxes make a rare foray into the Liverpool half and win a throw. Daka attempts a “long throw” and it very much doesn’t come off. Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images _This really happened._ 83’- GOAL! Mo Salah does Mo Salah things. He passes the ball through three Leicester defenders and there’s nothing Stolarczyk can do. 3-1 to the hosts. 87’- Mavididi comes off and Bobby De Cordova-Reid is on for him. 90’- NINE minutes of time added on, primarily for the two long VAR checks. 90+5’- Caleb Okoli gets a run-out, replacing Coady.

Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images Foxes reach new depths with capitulation at home to relegation-haunted Wolves **Recap** Leicester City fell to Wolves by a score of 3-0 on Sunday morning at the King Power. First-half goals from Goncalo Guedes, Rodrigo Gomes, and Matheus Cunha were more than enough to ensure the visitors took the spoils in a game that the Foxes surely felt was winnable. That was a disaster. There’s no other way to put it. The defending in the first 45 minutes was unacceptable. Wolves didn’t play badly and they deserved the points, but this defeat had more to do with City at the basics than an overwhelming performance by the visitors. I don’t know what else there is to say. That’s it. That’s the recap. **3 Takeaways** * Danny Ward has now played 135 minutes in the Premier League for City this year and surrendered six goals. * Substitute right-back Hamza Choudhury was probably our Man of the Match. Make of that what you will. * On the off chance you were wondering if Mads Hermansen, Wilfred Ndidi, and Ricardo Pereira were important to our defence, I think that you have your answer. > #LCFC One of Leicester's most important matches of the year and Ward is starting! Winks & Facu only on the bench. Come on Leicester. > > — An Old Man (@vieuxfox.bsky.social) 2024-12-22T12:59:14.231Z _Who could possibly have seen this performance coming? Oh...right._ The defeat leaves the Foxes on 14 points from 17 matches. We’re currently 17th on the table, just two points ahead of Wolves and Ipswich Town. Our pace would see us end the season on 31 points which qualifies as “precarious.” We travel to Anfield to face top-of-the-table Liverpool on Boxing Day and then host Manchester City one week from today. This could get ugly. Leicester City: Danny Ward, James Justin (Hamza Choudhury 51’), Conor Coady, Jannik Vestergaard (Wout Faes 46’), Victor Kristiansen, Boubakary Soumare, Oliver Skipp (Harry Winks 46’), Bilal El Khannouss (Bobby De Cordova-Reid 51’), Stephy Mavididi, Jordan Ayew (Facundo Buonanotte 84’), Jamie Vardy (C) Wolverhampton Wanderers: Jose Sa, Santiago Bueno, Toti Gomes, Nelson Semedo, Andre, Joao Gomes, Rodrigo Gomes, Matt Doherty, Jorgen Strand Larsen, Matheus Cunha, Goncalo Guedes * * * **Key Moments and Notes** 1’- It’s a grey day on Filbert Way. Is this a true six-pointer? Absolutely. 8’- Oh, you’d have bet on Vardy to score there. A long ball from El Khannouss finds Vardy just outside the area. Sa came for it, but the Leicester talisman got there first. The keeper was fortunate that Vardy’s touch couldn’t take the ball over him because that was a certain goal otherwise. 12’- Soumare surrenders a free kick on the Leicester left level with the penalty spot. It comes to nothing, more due to poor execution than great defending. 19’- GOAL! Where did that come from? A ball from midfield sails over Vestergaard, who’s marking Strand Larsen, and it finds Guedes alone behind the defender. Coady is late covering and Ward is caught flat-footed, The Wolves man hits it acrobatically and finds the back of the net. Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images _OK, fine. It was well-taken, but it still never should have reached him._ 24’- Justin cuts inside and shoots from 27 yards with his left peg. It wasn’t a great decision. 25’- Close! Skipp takes a free kick quickly and finds Mavididi in space. The winger wasn’t actually looking for it, allowing the defence to get back. The former Arsenal man cuts inside and tries to curl it into the corner. Sa spills it, but gathers before a blue shirt can tuck it home. 36’- GOAL! Shambolic defending leads to Wolves doubling their lead. Justin chooses to let a ball to the back post go when he could have played it. As a result, it falls to Rodrigo Gomes whose first touch takes the ball past Ward. > Danny Ward ⚰️ #LCFC > > — Marc (@bettemart.bsky.social) 2024-12-22T14:50:04.538Z _It got worse, Marc..._ 42’- Close! Mavididi tries to find Vardy in the box. He gets it wrong, but the ball comes off the defender and finds Vardy, anyway. He has his back to the target, takes a touch, and shoots. He beats Sa but it’s cleared off the line by Toti Gomes. 44’- GOAL! It’s too easy for Wolves. A simple ball Guedes from the wing finds Cunha deep in the box. He fires from a tight angle and beats Ward. Kristiansen and Soumare were beaten far too easily. 3-0 to the visitors. * * * 46’- Van Nistelrooy makes two changes at the break, hauling off Skipp and Vestergaard for Harry Winks and Wout Faes. 48’- The commentators point out that Wolves scored from all three shots on goal in the first half and accumulated an xG of just 1.14. Ouch. 53’- Two more changes for the Foxes: Hamza Choudhury and Bobby De Cordova-Reid come on for Justin and El Khannouss. 57’- Close! A long ball finds Vardy just ahead of Sa. This time he tries to round the keeper, but his touch is heavy and he leaves himself too tight an angle. 69’- Wolves are looking comfortable in possession with their supporters enthusiastically shouting “ole!” with every pass. Oof. _There are no Leicester highlight photos, so here are two of my cats, Aymeric (top) and Calvin (bottom)_ 76’- Winks fires in a peach of a cross and Coady just needs to stick his leg out to poke it into the net. He does not stick out his leg to poke it into the back of the net. 79’- The City supporters are pouring out of the stands. Hard to blame them. 84’- Facundo Buonanotte comes on for Jordan Ayew. 85’- A shot by Joao Gomes is saved by Ward. That’s his first save of the afternoon. 92’- Stuff is happening. Leicester have a couple chances, but no one cares at this point. 94’- That’s it. 3-0 to Wolves.

Photo by George Wood/Getty Images I’m afraid I don’t have anything good to say about this one. **Recap** Leicester City suffered a heavy setback against Newcastle United, losing by four goals to nil at St. James’ Park on Saturday afternoon. Jacob Murphy scored from a corner to give the hosts the advantage at the break. Goals from Bruno Guimaraes, Alexander Isak, and Murphy scored for the Magpies in the second half to complete the rout. Sometimes the scoreline is misleading. This was not one of those times. City were second best all afternoon, and that was only because there were only two participants. The hosts had 27 shots, 11 of which were on goal, and almost 60 touches in the Leicester box. Leicester managed only 4 shots and only got 1 on target. The absence of our top 3 central midfielders obviously played a part. The Foxes couldn’t get the ball out of defence and, with Dan Burn lurking, balls over the top weren’t going to be a terribly fruitful approach. That’s not an excuse, but Oliver Skipp and especially Hamza Choudhury weren’t able to move the ball forward, which made for a long afternoon. Did anyone have a particularly good match? Hermansen I suppose, but honestly, we were over-matched in all of the individual battles and didn’t compete in a way that would get a result against a Championship side. There’s nothing good to take from this other than maybe a dose of realism. > Kaptein rescues point but Chelsea’s 100% WSL record ends at Leicester > > — The Guardian (@theguardian.com) 2024-12-14T14:26:37Z _The day wasn’t a complete loss as the women did great work today._ **3 Takeaways** * If he wasn’t already aware, Ruud van Nistelrooy surely must have a sense of the task he’s signed up for. This club is in a relegation scrap because that’s who we are right now. * Kasey McAteer looks like he can play at this level. He’s quick enough and he’s got a good head for football. I’m glad we kept him. * I understand why that, given our other problems, it’s nit-picking, but we are so, so poor at set pieces and throw-ins. Seems like a little attention to these aspects of the match would pay dividends. Leicester City: Mads Hermansen (Danny Ward 46’), James Justin, Conor Coady, Jannik Vestergaard, Victor Kristiansen, Hamza Choudhury (Caleb Okoli 59’), Oliver Skipp, Kasey McAteer, Bilal El Khannouss (Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Stephy Mavididi (Facundo Buonanotte 59’), Jamie Vardy (Patson Daka 59’) (C) Newcastle United: Martin Dubravka, Valentino Livramento, Fabian Schar, Dan Burn, Lewis Hall, Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Jacob Murphy, Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak The defeat leaves us on 14 points from 16 matches. We’re still 16th on the table, so that’s good, but we’re only 2 points off the relegation zone. We host Wolves next Sunday in a dreaded true 6-pointer. After that, we kick off the festive period programme with a Boxing Day visit to Anfield to face Liverpool. * * * **Key Moments and Notes** 1’- No Harry Winks, Wilfred Ndidi, or Boubakary in the side today, so the central midfield is comprised of Oliver Skipp and Hamza Choudhury. Academy player Henry Cartwright is on the bench for the Foxes. 4’- El Khannouss plays a ball over the top for McAteer to chase. He wins the race and fires in a low cross that Schar intercepts at full stretch to deny Vardy a certain tap-in. 8’- Close! Gordon dribbles cuts in from the wing and dribbles through half the City defence. He takes a pop from just inside the area and it requires a brilliant save from Hermansen to turn it over. 14’- It’s all Newcastle right now. A goal is coming if Leicester can’t get a grip on it. 20’- Isak makes a brilliant run through the Leicester defence and lays it off for Murphy. He’s fouled at the end of it but the referee plays advantage. Murphy curls it just wide and..the ref calls it back for the free kick? That’s unusual. 27’- Isak and Murphy have huge chances but they can’t get the ball through the defence and on target both. The Foxes are very fortunate to be level. Choudhury took one of the shots in the face and has to get treatment. 30’- GOAL! The Magpies win a corner and they play a brilliant routine. A short corner finds Gordon running into the box in space. He cuts it back for Murphy just inside the area and he has all day to place it in the corner. > GOL DO NEWCASTLE ⚽️ Jacob Murphy ️ Anthony Gordon Newcastle 1x0 Leicester #PremierLeague > > — Futebol Clube (@futebolclub10.bsky.social) 2024-12-14T15:36:08.477Z _We might want to reconsider our defensive scheme, huh?_ 37’- Close! Isak is behind the entire Leicester defence but he can’t be Hermansen one-on-one. It was more a “poor effort” than a “great save.” 38’- Guimaraes is very fortunate not to go into the book for diving into Vestergaard and rolling around like he was shot. 39’- Guimaraes is very fortunate to still be on the pitch. He dives in on Mavididi and gets the wingers with his studs above the ankle. He sees yellow and VAR is satisfied that this is sufficient. If he’d seen yellow for the dive... 44’- Nice little spell of possession from the Foxes. Nothing remotely close to a chance so far, but El Khannouss wins a corner. That’s it for the first half. The Foxes are fortunate to trail by a single goal. * * * 46’- Danny Ward is in goal to start the second half. That bodes ill. 47’- GOAL! The Foxes look like they’ve never defended a set piece before. El Khannouss gives up a free kick. It’s delivered to Hall, who is completely unmarked at the far post. He heads it back across the face of the goal and finds Guimaraes, who nods it home from close range. 50’- GOAL! Newcastle tear down the flank and it’s Gordon and Hall combining again. The cross is deflected by Coady directly to Isak who taps it into the net. 3-0 to the hosts. Photo by George Wood/Getty Images 52’- Close! Isak goes through the defence like it’s not even there and finds Murphy in space. Ward tips it over, but the referee gives a goal kick. 54’- Nice movement by McAteer results in the winger cutting inside and testing Dubravka from distance. It’s an easy take, but it’s City’s first shot on target as well. 59’- A triple change for the Foxes. Patson Daka, Caleb Okoli, and Facundo Buonanotte are on for Vardy, Choudhury, and Mavididi. 60’- GOAL! Gordon finds Isak, who turns Vestergaard inside out. He squares it for the unmarked Murphy on the right. He nutmegs Ward to put the match out of...oh, who am I kidding? This might have been out of reach at 2-0. Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images 72’- Things have settled into a chaotic mess without much goalmouth actions which is, all things considered, an improvement. Leicester supporters are starting to head for the exists and it’s hard to blame them. 82’- Bobby De Cordova-Reid is on for El Khannouss. 84’- Substitute Sean Longstaff goes into Buonanotte with studs up on both feet, sending the Argentine to the floor. The commentator says “There’s nothing in that.” 87’- Harvey Barnes has been bright since coming on as a substitute. That would have been good news 3 years ago. 90+5’- Okoli scythes down Willock and picks up a yellow at the death. It was a nasty challenge and it could have been a red.

Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images _Foxes leave it late to rescue a point against high-flying Seagulls_ **Recap** Leicester City came from two goals down to earn a draw against Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday at the King Power. Tariq Lamptey gave the visitors a deserved lead at the break with a long-range effort. Substitute Yankuba Minteh doubled their advantage late in the second half, but goals from Jamie Vardy and Bobby De Cordova-Reid, the latter in injury time, ensured the teams shared the spoils. In truth, the Foxes never seemed completely out of the match. Brighton had been the better side but not by an enormous margin. The defending was certainly better than against West Ham, although that bar is subterranean. Even though we only took one point, you could argue that this was a better overall team performance. By that I mean, I absolutely would make that argument. As someone with a background in statistics and not punditry, it hurts my cold, cold heart to make this observation, but the body language displayed by the team is so much more positive than it was a few weeks ago. There’s no longer the sense that the players feel defeat is inevitable. I know we came back and earned some late points under Cooper, but what I haven’t seen in the last two matches is players yelling at each other or looking as though they think the match is lost before they step on the pitch. What can be said about Jamie Vardy that hasn’t already been said? His performance today was transcendent. Forget the goal, he led the press tirelessly, he selflessly squared the ball to De Cordova-Reid for the equaliser when you’d have backed him to score, and watching him psyche up Mavididi's last free kick was inspiring. It didn’t quite work, but he is a credit to that captain’s armband. The draw gives us 14 points from 15 matches, which puts us 16th on the table. It also leaves us 5 points clear of the relegation zone which, like it or not, is the important thing. Next Saturday, we head to the northeast to face Newcastle United. The following Sunday we host Wolverhampton Wanderers in our final match before a brutal set of fixtures over the festive period. > Good morning. Might have stayed up late drawing Leicester City. Upsetting imagery to follow > > — No Score Draws ✍ ⚽ (@noscoredraws.bsky.social) 2024-12-05T08:22:25.539Z _The Foxes don’t seem to have an official Bluesky account, so we’re just gonna have some fun with this._ **3 Takeaways** * Kristiansen made some cracking runs forward today, but he really struggled defensively. To me, he looks like he’d be best used as a wing-back with a back three. It will be interesting to see if we’re in the market for a fullback or two in January. * It doesn’t really mean anything, but Conor Coady plays the absolutely softest back passes I’ve ever seen. It’s painful to watch sometimes. * My mother just texted me and called me to tell me how much she likes Mads Hermansen. The woman’s got good taste, I’ll give her that. Leicester City: Mads Hermansen, James Justin, Conor Coady, Jannik Vestergaard, Victor Kristiansen, Wilfred Ndidi, Boubakary Soumare, Kasey McAteer, Bilal El Khannouss, Jordan Ayew, Jamie Vardy (C) Brighton and Hove Albion: Bart Verbruggen, Lewis Dunk , Jan Paul van Hecke, Pervis Estupinan, Tariq Lamptey, Joao Pedro, Yasin Ayari, Carlos Baleba, Evan Ferguson, Kaoru Mitoma, Georginio Rutter * * * **Key Moments and Notes** 5’- The Foxes win a free quick when Rutter blocks a pass and the ball deflects up onto his arm. I mention it because the same thing happened moments earlier when Baleba did the same thing in his own box. It’s not a complaint; I think everyone agreed that both calls were correct. 10’- The Seagulls turn it over deep in their own territory. El Khannouss tries to square it with his first touch, missing Vardy’s run behind the defence. That’s a goal if he just knocks it a little forward. 13’- Close! Lamptey races down the Leicester left and lofts a cross to the far post. Joao Pedro meets it and hits it first time, but he puts it just wide of the post. 18- Close! Mitoma tees up Estupinan who hits a beauty of a shot. It’s going away from Hermansen and bound for the inside of the side netting, but the Danish stopper parries at full stretch. 30’- Lamptey takes down Ayew from behind but for some reason, the foul is given to the Brighton man. The free kick is eventually worked to Ferguson, whose tame shot is easily gathered. 35’- Close! Rutter robs Kristiansen on the left and he finds Ferguson in space in the area. The striker passes up the opportunity and taps it to Mitoma, who curls it over the bar. 37’- GOAL! Estupinan reverses it to Lamptey. He cuts inside Ayew and takes a pop from outside the area. It’s a real beauty, nestling inside the far post. No keeper on the planet stops that one. 43’- Close! A fine team move sees Kristiansen pump a cross into the area. He finds Justin, who does everything right, heading across the keeper. Verbruggen does extremely well to parry. Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images _This one’s for you, mum._ 45+1’- The pairing of Ayew and Kristiansen isn’t working on the Leicester left. The Ghana winger puts a ball out of play trying to play a simple pass to the fullback. 45+2’- Close! A long diagonal ball plays Kristiansen in on the left. His low cross to Vardy is just a few inches behind where it needs to be, allowing Dunk to dive in and put it behind for a corner. HALF-TIME Leicester City 0 - 1 Brighton and Hove Albion * * * 46’- No changes at the half. The Foxes were second best in the first half, but they showed some life and are still in this. 52’- Ndidi goes down after a crucial challenge on Rutter (that could, in all honesty, have been a second yellow) and has to come off. Oliver Skipp replaces him. 55’- It’s been all Leicester this half. McAteer gets free on the right after a fine ball from Coady, but his low cross to Vardy is cut out. 60’- Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Stephy Mavididi are on for McAteer and Ayew. 64’- Kristiansen gets robbed again on the wing. This time Vestergaard comes to his rescue and blocks Ferguson’s shot. De Cordova-Reid buys a pretty soft foul to relieve the pressure. 67’- Mavididi’s floated cross finds Vardy at the far post. He puts it over from a difficult angle. 75’- Things have quieted down and Brighton look quite comfortable right now. 79’- GOAL! Substitute Yankuba Minteh gets in behind Kristiansen and it’s on for the visitors. His first touch is poor but he twists and turns and prevents the Foxes from taking the ball off him before slotting it past Hermansen. 80’- Wout Faes and Patson Daka are on for Vestergaard and El Khannouss. That’s the final throw of the dice. 84’- Too much space on the left. Minteh gets into space again, but his curling effort goes over the bar. 86’- GOAL! Skipp plays a fine ball to De Cordova-Reid who lofts it into the box for Vardy. The GOAT hits it first time, going across Verbruggen and inside the far post. Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images _This man turns 38 next month._ 90+1’- GOAL! Scenes at the King Power! Mavididi wins the ball deep in the Brighton half. He taps it to De Cordova-Reid who slips in Vardy. This time, the striker unselfishly returns it to the Jamaican and it’s a tap-in. 90+5’- Soumare wins a free kick and Mavididi takes it. It comes off the wall and goes out for a corner, but it isn’t taken as the referee blows the whistle. > Let’s bounce back in Leicester! > > — Brighton & Hove Albion (@officialbha.bsky.social) 2024-12-07T18:56:51.930Z _Siri, show me messages that haven’t aged well..._

Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images _Where have all the Ruud boys...gone? (that’s for the Ted Leo fans)_ **Recap** Leicester City opened the Ruud van Nistelrooy era with a bang, beating West Ham by a score of 3-1 at the King Power on Tuesday evening. Jamie Vardy opened the scoring in the second minute to give the Foxes a 1-0 lead at the break. Goals from Bilal El Khannouss and Patson Daka extended the lead in the second half before Niclas Füllkrug got a consolation goal for the visitors in injury time. Let’s start with the good stuff: The Foxes looked imaginative and clinical in attack. In the early going, the Hammers’ back line was always a pass away from being undone by clever through balls and diagonal runs. Vardy looked like Vardy, bagging his fifth goal of the season and picking up a yellow card for a ridiculous challenge. Having both El Khannouss and Buonanotte on the pitch simultaneously opened new angles of attack that had been missing before. Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images _Thinkerman 2.0?_ But let’s not kid ourselves: There remains a lot of work to do. West Ham outshot the Foxes 31-8 and “won” on xG 3.09:1.35. The defending was very much of the “last ditch” variety and Mads Hermansen had far too much work to do. Wilfred Ndidi won 9 tackles and 4 balls in the air which is impressive if you don’t think about why he had to do so much. The gap between the attacking and defensive midfielders was exploited ruthlessly all evening. I can’t count the number of times I said “I can’t believe they didn’t score.” Mostly because I wasn’t counting, but you get the idea. Still, the overall “vibe” of the team was noticeably more positive. That’ll happen when you’re ahead on 90 seconds, but the team held that attitude for the full 90 and you can count the number of times that’s happened this season on one hand, even if you spent too much time juggling chainsaws while drunk. But, you know, three points. Those three points lift us back to 15th on the table with 14 points from 15 matches. We travel to the coast to face Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday and then move in the opposite direction to square off against Newcastle United on Saturday the 14th. **3 Takeaways** * Jamie Vardy still has it. His form today was imperious. Sure, he only scored once, but he was Jamie Vardy and that cannot be overestimated. * I don’t know what to make of this, but it was interesting to see a central defender (Vestergaard) substituted on the hour with a 1-0 lead. My guess is it was either due to picking up a knock or this was a planned move. Either way, it was unusual to see. * Keep an eye on Buonanotte and El Khannouss playing together. The Moroccan was technically a winger, but he moved inside to let Kristiansen provide the width. Having two clever, technical players behind Vardy could potentially open up some very interesting options. Leicester City: Mads Hermansen, James Justin, Conor Coady, Jannik Vestergaard (Wout Faes 60’), Victor Kristiansen, Wilfred Ndidi, Boubakary Soumare, Kasey McAteer (Bobby De Cordova-Reid 74’), Facundo Buonanotte (Jordan Ayew 91’), Bilal El Khannouss (Stephy Mavididi 74’), Jamie Vardy (Patson Daka 60’) (C) West Ham United: Lukasz Fabianski, Max Kilman, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Vladimir Coufal (Emerson 61’), Carlos Soler (Lucas Paqueta 61’), Tomas Soucek (Michail Antonio 61’), Edson Alvarez, Danny Ings (Crysencio Summerville 61’), Mohammed Kudus (Niclas Fullkrug 79’), Jarrod Bown * * * **Key Moments and Notes** 2’- GOAL! Bilal El Khannouss finds Vardy with a perfect through ball. He rolls the ball into the back of the net, but the flag is up. VAR takes a look and he was onside. 1-0 to the Foxes! > GOOOOL DO LEICESTER Leicester 1x0 West Ham ⚽️ Jamie Vardy Bilal El Khannouss #PremierLeague > > — Futebol Clube (@futebolclub10.bsky.social) 2024-12-03T20:26:10.026Z _Let’s see how aggressive the copyright system is against BlueSky..._ 5’- Close! Vardy is in behind yet again and it takes a brilliant save from Lukasz Fabianski to keep it out. He barely gets enough on it; it dribbles just wide of the post. 6’- What an open start. Jarrod Bowen cuts in from a wide position and curls it towards the far post. Hermansen makes a smart save to keep it out. 13’- How have the Hammers not equalised? Danny Ings hits the post and the ball could go anywhere and does. Several West Ham players take a crack at it, but every effort is blocked. Don’t feel like this one goal is going to be enough. 26’- Soucek has to score. The big Czech gets up to meet a cross at the back post and puts it wide. Hermansen had no chance of getting to that one. 28’- West Ham are dominating now. Bowen gets behind Kristiansen and forces Hermansen into a shin save. Or, more accurately, it came off Hermansen’s shin before he could move. 34- Again, how have the visitors not scored here? Bowen gets behind again and he fires the perfect cross-sum-shot across the face of the goal. It eludes Hermansen and perfectly dissects the far post and the onrushing Ings. So, perfect for Leicester, not so much for the Hammers. 45’- Justin and Hermansen collide as the keeper tries to collect a looping ball in the box. Two West Ham players take a pop, but Mads makes two fine saves in no-man’s land. HALF-TIME: Leicester City 1 - 0 West Ham United * * * 46’- We back in action and...I think van Nistelrooy has swapped his midfielders. It looks like Ndidi and McAteer on the left and Soumare and El Khannouss on the right? Maybe trying to get McAteer a little help defensively? 49’- Mohammed Kudus gets a free header 5 yards out and puts it 20 yards wide. He was offside anyway. 53’- A deep cross into the box nearly catches Hermansen out. That was going to drift under the bar, but he makes a smart save. 60’- Vestergaard and Vardy are off in favour of Patson Daka and Wout Faes. These feel like pre-planned moves. 61’- GOAL! Kasey McAteer, who has looked clever all night, slips a pass to El Khannouss in the box. He doesn’t have time to do anything but turn and shoot, but he gets it exactly right. It sneaks inside the near post and beats Fabianski. 2-0 to the Foxes. Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images _#Instinctive_ 67’- Close! El Khannouss has been a force tonight. He finds Ndidi in the centre of the box and he puts a powerful header on target from close range. Fabianski just gets a finger to it to turn it over. 71’- It’s been (almost) all West Ham since the goal, but the defenders are holding firm. Barely. 74’- Stephy Mavididi and Bobby De Cordova-Reid come on for El Khannouss and McAteer. Absolutely stunning match from El Khannouss. 81’- De Cordova-Reid tucks the rebound from Daka’s shot into the net, but VAR wants a look. It comes back because Buonanotte was offside in the buildup. It’s the right call, but it feels harsh. 90’- GOAL! Kristiansen sends Daka on his way and he only has the keeper to beat. He has support but decides to go it alone, blasting his shot into the top of the net at the near post. I’ve missed those goal celebrations. > what a goal for Leicester City and Daka > > — CJ Fogler (@cjzero.bsky.social) 2024-12-03T22:08:01.962Z 90+1’- The final substitution sees Jordan Ayew come on for Buonanotte. 90+3’- GOAL! The visitors win a corner and it’s perfectly delivered by Summerville. Fullkrug rises highest and scores from close range. Just a consolation...I hope. 90+10’- There was time for the Hammers to get another, but not the ability. The Foxes hold on and take three crucial points.

Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images The Ben Dawson era began and ended today. **Recap** Leicester City dropped all three points against Brentford on Saturday morning by a score of 4-1. The Foxes took the lead with their only shot of the first half when Jamie Vardy teed up Facundo Buonanotte to slot home. The Bees struck back with first-half strikes from Yoane Wissa and a brace from Kevin Schade. Schade completed his hat trick after the break to put the game to bed in the same way Travis Coates put Ol’ Yeller to bed. Caretaker manager Ben Dawson faced an uphill battle, facing the club with the best home record in the top flight, but he wasn’t helped by the fact that his charges took to their new tactical system like a golden retriever takes to particle physics. The squad looked out of sorts in attack and defence. It is likely they would have looked out of sorts in other phases of the game if there were other phases. Today’s match was a showcase of the enormity of the task that awaits Ruud van Nistelrooy. City’s players weren’t overwhelmed in individual battles, but instead as a team. Thomas Frank’s side played with discipline and understanding of the system and the Foxes showed neither virtue. The first task is going to be to get all the players on the same page and the second will be to restore confidence. If those two don’t happen, nothing else really matters. > Hey Ruud… Take a sad team and make it better… #LCFC > > — Jeremy Benson (@jembenson.bsky.social) 2024-11-29T19:11:11.266Z Did anyone impress? Certainly not the back five. Vardy was more involved than usual, but he was isolated. Buonanotte showed sublime skill but he too was on an island. I’m not sure anyone else demonstrated much that shows up on the positive side of the ledger. What, you expected some silver linings from a 4-1 defeat at Brentford? Not today. **3 Takeaways** * Luke Thomas is an interesting player, isn’t he? He not the most physical specimen, but he is capable of doing useful things with the ball at his feet. It will be interesting to see what role, if he, he plays under van Nistelrooy. * Our ability to defend against through balls was non-existent. I don’t know if it was a lack of concentration, a lack of ability, or just getting to far forward, but it was painful to watch. Faes, in particular, was exposed far too often. * I suspect the club would like a do-over on most of their summer spending. The defeat leaves the Foxes on 10 points from 13 matches. We’re 16th on the table but we could be in the relegation zone before the next match. Speaking of “the next match,” that’ll be against West Ham on Tuesday. It will also be Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first match in charge. Next Sunday, we host second-on-the-table Brighton and Hove Albion. Not gonna lie: That’s a sentence I never expected to write. Leicester City: Mads Hermansen, James Justin, Wout Faes, Conor Coady, Caleb Okoli (Jannik Vestergaard 34’), Luke Thomas, Wilfred Ndidi, Boubakary Soumare (Oliver Skipp 64’), Facundo Buonanotte (Stephy Mavididi 64’), Jordan Ayew (Bobby De Cordova-Reid 79’), Jamie Vardy (C) (Patson Daka 64’) Brentford: Mark Flekken, Ethan Pinnock, Nathan Collins, Keane Lewis-Potter, Sepp van den Berg, Mikkel Damsgaard, Christian Norgaard, Mathias Jensen, Kevin Schade, Youane Wissa, Bryan Mbuemo * * * **Key Moments and Notes** 1’-The Foxes line up with 5 at the back for the first time in quite a while. I’m certain it’ll be listed as a 3-4-3, but James Justin and Luke Thomas are providing the width today, so that strikes me as aspirational. 3’- Close! The Bees work a throw-in routine to great effect. Instead of a long throw into the box, they work to find an open man outside the Leicester box and pump it into the mixer. Schade rises highest to reach it and loops a header towards the top corner of the goal, but Hermansen makes an acrobatic save. That was going in. 11’- It’s all Brentford right now as the Foxes are struggling to win the ball and more so to keep it. We have a lot of bodies in the box, but we’re not offering anything going forward. 21’- GOAL! Ayew plays a through ball for Vardy to run on it. He turns Pinnock inside out and gets knocked over by the defender, but as he’s going down, the striker slides the ball to Buonanotte who slots home from close range. It’s the very definition of “against the run of play.” Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images _If the referee had just blown the whistle at 30’..._ 25’- GOAL! An instant response from the hosts. Faes and Justin get caught out by a through ball by Damsgaard for Schade. He finds Wissa’s run into the box and he scores from close range. Too easy. We’re level again. 28’- Okoli requires some treatment after colliding with Hermansen attempting to stop that last Brentford attack. He’s back up, but he’s not moving well. 29’- GOAL! Too easy again. Damsgaard receives the ball in acres of space on the left. Wissa and Mbeumo combine well on the right. The low cross is deflected to Schade and he blasts home, leaving Hermansen no chance. 2-1 to the hosts. 32’- Okoli is back on the pitch. Not sure he would have made a difference on the last goal, but another body wouldn’t have hurt. 34’- Okoli is back down again. His race is run today. Jannik Vestergaard prepares to come on for the first time in quite a while. 42’- Brentford’s Jensen picks up a knock and has to come off. Vitaly Janelt replaces him. 45+8’- GOAL! Too easy again. The Bees stroll through the Leicester defence. Damsgaard has an age to pick out his pass. Faes plays Schade onside and he has a simple finish to get his second goal of the match. 3-1 to the hosts. That’s it for the first half. Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images * * * 46’- Neither manager makes any changes at the half, at least in terms of personnel. It does look like Buonanotte has been asked to help out more defensively on the Leicester right. 52’- The Foxes started the half well, but Brentford are starting to look like they’re going to extend the lead. Hermansen makes a brilliant reaction save against Mbuemo, but he was offside anyway. 59’- GOAL! Schade has his hat-trick. Out of nowhere, Collins plays an inch-perfect ball behind Faes. Schade is on it and slots home across Hermansen. Is it too easy? Yes, yes it is. > Wout Faes is a terrible defender > > — Jared Leeper (@jaredleeper.bsky.social) 2024-11-30T16:29:42.084Z _I’m struggling to find evidence to the contrary right now._ 64’- A triple change for the Foxes. Buonanotte, Vardy, and Soumare are off for Stephy Mavididi, Patson Daka, and Oliver Skipp. 79’- Bobby De Cordova-Reid is on for Ayew. Nothing interesting has happened over the last 15 minutes and it is exceedingly unlikely anything will for the final 15 or so. 90+4’- Told ya. Nothing. It ends 4-1 to Brentford.

Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images Handsome former striker arrives with short resume, high expectations Leicester City Football Club have hired Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooij, better known as Ruud van Nistelrooy, as their new first-team men’s manager. His contract extends through the 2026-27 season. He will take charge of the club for the 3 December match against West Ham United. First Team coach Ben Dawson will lead the club for tomorrow’s match against Brentford. Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images _I’m a big fan of his fashion sense and his stubble._ Van Nistelrooy has extensive Premier League experience with 150 matches under his belt. That’s as a player, mind you. He’s only managed four matches in Englands top flight, with two of those being against Leicester City (he thrashed us both times). He did lead PSV Eindhoven during the 2022/23 season in the Eredivisie, winning 33 of his 51 matches and seeing the _Boerens_ finish second in the league. Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images _Think of him as sort an Olivier Giroud knock-off._ That said, his resume isn’t especially long and it offers little insight into what kind of a manager he’ll be. So, there’s really not much point in talking about it, is there? Instead, let’s tackle the big questions: Is he the handsomest Leicester City manager? I think you could make that argument. He’s got glorious hair, great facial hair (the two don’t always go together), and just the right amount of silver to give him a little gravitas. Add that to a solid sense of fashion and he’s a very strong candidate. Photo by John Marsh/EMPICS via Getty Images _The young Van Nistelrooy. You can see the potential already._ I would really prefer to be writing about what I think of him as a manager, but the honest answer is: I don’t know. I don’t know his preferred tactics, his man-management style, his motivational skills. I hope he’s brilliant. He’s certainly been successful in the limited amount of time he’s been in charge of clubs. I am hopeful that he’s the right man for the job; I just don’t have enough information to upgrade that from “hope” to “expect.” Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images _Huge points to the photographer for the brilliant depth of field (unless they used a filter-that’s cheating)._ If the players are on board, that’s 90% of the gig. You never had the sense that the players bought into Cooper’s vision. Just getting everyone pulling in the same direction is _probably_ enough to stave off relegation. If nothing else, restoring a little positivity to the King Power would be a welcome change. Let’s hope that 3 December is the start of something special. What do you think of van Nistelrooy?

#traditional | Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images _I’m just putting words here to see if anyone reads them._ Leicester City Football Club have parted ways with manager Steve Cooper after 15 matches in all competitions. The club’s statement reads: "Leicester City Football Club has parted company with Steve Cooper, who leaves his position as First Team Manager with immediate effect. Assistant Manager Alan Tate and First Team Coach and Analyst Steve Rands have also left the Club. Steve, Alan and Steve depart with our thanks for their contribution during their time with the Club and with our best wishes for the future. " If you’re new here, this is pretty much the statement they released following the termination of every manager. Claudio Ranieri was special, of course, but this is boilerplate and offers little insight as to the “why” of it. So, was Cooper’s sacking justified? As with most things, it’s complicated. Photo by Arnold Turner/Getty Images for Trevor Jackson _Hey, congrats Trev. This was what came up on Getty Images when I searched for “It’s Complicated”._ The Foxes currently sit 16th on the table with 10 points from 12 matches. If we were to finish in this position, I don’t think anyone would complain about the job the manager did. The goal this season was to survive and anyone who tells you differently is not to be trusted. However, the point return puts us on a pace for just 32 points and that is probably not going to be enough to get over the line. There were additional concerns as well. The club’s xG/xGA differential is -10.6, which is tied with Southampton for 19th in the league. No matter how you feel about xG, it is demonstrably a better predictor of future performance than the club’s won/loss record. We are fortunate to be 16th. Thank Mads Hermansen for that, and, if I’m being brutally frank, one gets the sense he will want out as soon as he can engineer a move if things don’t change. City have only “won” a match on xG/xGA twice this season. We had 3.1 xG vs. 2.1 xGA against Southampton (a match we won 3-2) and 1.5 xG vs 1.0 xGA against Ipswitch (a 1-1 draw). Clever folks and my Fosse Posse compatriots may remember that we had a man advantage in both of those matches. We have not “won” on xG this season when both clubs have 11 players. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the elephant in the room here: The body language and feel around the squad has been awful. These players haven’t been on the same page as each other or the manager. There’s a cloud over this team right now. It seems unscientific to sack a manager over “vibes,” but the negative mood around the club didn’t help. Take the last 3 matches as an example. One might reasonably say we were never favourites to beat Manchester United or Chelsea, so it’s harsh to use those results to justify parting ways with Cooper. You might have reasonably expected us to beat 10-man Ipswich Town, but it took a 94th-minute goal to earn a draw. But, if you watched the matches...first of all, I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have had to have watched them. If you did, you know that the team looked defeated before the ball was kicked. There was no confidence in the squad whatsoever. So what’s next? The more observant of you may have noticed that we waited until the match after the international break to do the deed. Arlo White said as much: > But why after an international break and two tough games v United & Chelsea? Maybe to nab the next guy before someone else does? Moyes? Van Nistelrooy? Potter? Eberflus? > > — Arlo White (@arlowhite) November 24, 2024 It can mean one of two things: 1. The club is being feckless and genuinely didn’t decide to sack Cooper until after the Chelsea match. 2. The club were lining up a replacement and waited until the deal was done (or very close to being done) before making the move. I’m hoping it’s the latter, although recent history doesn’t give me much evidence to support this hope. The betting money currently has Ruud van Nistelrooy as the favourite to take over, with David Moyes, Graham Potter, Mark Robins and Carlos Corberon as the other possibilities. > Hearing it will be MOYES. > Will be announced tomorrow or Tuesday > Comment your views…#Moyes #lcfc #leicestercity pic.twitter.com/nDe9oRmixM > > — Leicester Fan Tv (@LeicesterFanTV) November 24, 2024 _I could live with this. He’d get my vote for “most underrated manager of the PL era.”_ Whoever we select, my hope is that it’s someone with a vision of how the club should play and an ability to communicate that vision to the squad. I’m just a supporter with limited tactical knowledge, but I couldn’t figure out what the heck we were trying to do this season. “Defend deep, hope Hermansen bails us out a few times, and rely on a piece of solo individual skill” is what it looked like to me, but I doubt that was what was on the drawing board. So it’s come to this: I’m writing about “vibes” and “club identity” in an article. I come from a statistical scouting background, you know. You wouldn’t think I’d be discussing the less-tangible aspects, but here we are. Let’s hope the next manager (and I like most of the names on the list) is able to come in, get the squad behind him, get the fans behind him, and get the ship moving in the right direction. We’ve been desperately difficult to watch. Surely it can only get better (he says, knowing full well that the Gods of Ironic Justice are snickering at that statement).

Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images This team can be really hard to watch, huh? **Recap** Leicester City dropped all three points to Chelsea on Saturday morning at the King Power, losing by a score of 2-1. Nicolas Jackson opened the scoring for the visitors in the first half after turning Wout Faes inside out. In the second half, Enzo Fernandez scored with a header to double the lead before a late Jordan Ayew penalty gave the Foxes the faintest of hopes. The scoreline makes the match look like it was exciting, or at the very least close. It was neither of those things. The statistics make it clear that this match was one-way traffic for almost the full 90 minutes. Chelsea had 64% of the ball and outshot us 16-4, with Leicester only getting one shot on frame. If not for some poor finishing and some really weird bad luck, the Londoners would have had a much more representative lead. On the other hand, there was a significant penalty shout for City in the dying minutes. It wasn’t given, but it was very much a coin-flip situation. It would have been deeply unjust to the visitors to have had to settle for a point, but I’ll take unjust points any day. They count just the same. It’s hard to gauge the performances today. The defensive players were asked to defend deep from the opening whistle and the attackers never saw the ball. This was the gameplan they were asked to follow and they did as they were instructed. Unforced errors by Faes and Okoli led to the goals, and that was disappointing. But, the tactics today ensured that the defence would be under pressure the entire match and there are going to be errors when you try to defend for 90 minutes. The defeat leaves us on 10 points from 12 matches. We remain 15th on the table for now, but as this was the first match of the week, that won’t last. In one week, we travel to Brentford and we open our December programme on the 3rd when we host West Ham. **3 Takeaways** * Kasey McAteer has a motor. He was able to get past his fullback when given the opportunity and he made intelligent runs all afternoon. He’s a clever player and I hope he gets more chances. * The mood around the King Power seemed resigned right from the beginning. It didn’t help that Chelsea came out of the gate so strong, but there’s not a lot of belief among the supporters right now. * Coop’s in trouble. It’s not the result that was the problem, it was (waves arms) all of this. The mood, the tactics, the players’ body language. It’s not working and it’s hard to watch. Leicester City: Mads Hermansen, James Justin, Wout Faes, Caleb Okoli, Victor Kristiansen, Wilfred Ndidi (Stephy Mavididi 71’), Harry Winks (Oliver Skipp 11’), Boubakary Soumare, Kasey McAteer (Jordan Ayew 71’), Bilal El Khannouss (Bobby De Cordova-Reid 79’), Jamie Vardy (C) (Patson Daka 79’) Chelsea: Robert Sanchez, Wesley Fofana, Benoit Badiashile, Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernández, Noni Madueke, Cole Palmer, Joao Felix, Nicolas Jackson * * * **Key Moments and Notes** 1’- This is a really bad week for us to have the early match. I am starting today in a foul mood. I got there hours of sleep last night, my favourite coffee joint closes today, and we lost Abdul Fatawu for the season. If I were ever going to miss a match, this would be the one. 11’- Oh no. Winks has been the one bright spot so far, and he’s done his quad. He has to come off. Oliver Skipp is on. 15’- GOAL! Nicolas Jackson robs Wout Faes three times and flicks it into the net with the outside of his boot. This was coming, but we made it far too easy. > Wout Faes is almost always at the centre of something terrible defensively isn’t he? #LCFC > > — Sam Tighe (@stighefootball.bsky.social) 2024-11-23T12:46:51.090Z #Evergreen 21’- It’s all Chelsea. It’s all Chelsea. Not much else to say. Ndidi goes into Palmer’s ankle late and sees yellow. It could easily have been read. 30’- Madeuke scores a lovely goal, but Marc Cucurella was offside in the buildup. Also, the shot went directly at Jackson standing on the goal line, but apparently, that isn’t considered to be affecting play. Regardless, it’s chalked off. 39’- Close! City break the Chelsea press for the first time and the Foxes pour forward. Skipp finds McAteer on the right in space. The winger cuts inside and curls a shot towards the far post. It goes just wide with Sanchez beaten. Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images _Literally the same gesture we all made._ 45’- The Foxes had a little spell of decent football near the end, but Chelsea will be disappointed their advantage isn’t larger. It’s 1-0 to the visitors at the half. * * * 46’-The match restarts. No substitutions on either side. 55’- Close! How has Palmer not scored? Chelsea break and Joao Felix plays a marvellous pass to release Jackson. His shot is just palmed aside by Hermansen, but it falls to Palmer two yards out. He’s got an empty net and has to score, but Madueke gets in the way and blocks it. Unbelievable. > Cole Palmer looked set to double Chelsea's lead, but was denied by Noni Madueke. #LEICHE | #LCFC | #CFC > > — The Athletic | Football (@theathleticfc.bsky.social) 2024-11-23T13:54:56.699Z 65’- It’s gone really disjointed. Chelsea are concentrating more on winning (legitimate) fouls and slowing the game down than on extending their lead. 70’- Jordan Ayew and Stephy Mavididi are on for Ndidi and McAteer. Not a good performance from Wilf, but I thought McAteer was our best player so far. 75’- GOAL! With Justin down at the other end of the pitch, Chelsea lay siege to the Leicester penalty area. Cucurella delivers a peach of a ball to Jackson. Hermansen saves the header, but the second ball falls to Fernandez for a simple header to score. Game over. 79’- Patson Daka sees his first action since injuring his ankle in pre-season. Vardy is off, and he’s not happy about it. Bobby De Cordova-Reid comes on for El Khannouss as well. 85’- Penalty shout as Mavididi causes chaos in the Chelsea box. He taps the ball behind Fofana and goes over the former City defender’s leg. It’s a foul anywhere else on the pitch (Madueke won one off El Khannouss earlier for the exact same thing), but the referee and VAR don’t give it. Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images 90+3’- Penalty to the Foxes. Bobby De Cordova-Reid latches on to a lovely through ball and Romeo Lavia stands on his foot. The offside flag goes up, but VAR takes a long look and determines that there was no offside, so the referee points to the spot. 90+4’- GOAL! Ayew blasts the penalty into the back of the net. Game not exactly on, but it’s a reason to watch the last few minutes. 90+8’- The whistle goes and the Foxes fall short.

Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images _I watched so you didn’t have to (I hope)_ **Recap** Leicester City fell by a score of 3-0 against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday morning. A Bruno Fernandes strike and a Victor Kristiansen own-goal gave the hosts an insurmountable advantage at the break. The Foxes couldn’t find a way back into the match and Alejandro Garnacho added a fine curling effort to provide the final margin. What can I say about that match? What do you want me to say? The lineup didn’t work, the shape didn’t work, the adjustments didn’t work, the substitutions didn’t work...believe it or not, I could go on. But I don’t want to. There were bright spots. The defence was breached by two shots from outside the area and an own goal, so we weren’t overrun. Fatawu and Buonanotte ran hard but often into cul-de-sacs. We just literally never looked like scoring. We lost individual battles, but more to the point, we lost _every_ team battle. Every. Last. One. > FT 3-0. More than the scoreline, it is the #LCFC display today that should be of greatest concern because there was very little fight or character about it. A tame display. > > — Rob Tanner (@RobTannerLCFC) November 10, 2024 So, I really don’t know what to add. It was hard to watch. The defeat leaves us on 10 points from 11 matches. We remain 15th on the table, but the gap narrowed this weekend as every club now has at least one victory. After the international break, we host Chelsea on 23rd and then close out our November schedule with a visit to Brentford on the 30th. **3 Takeaways** * This is the sort of match that costs managers their job. * We remain far too heavily reliant on Jamie Vardy to provide attacking impetus. Maybe when Patson Daka returns he’ll help. * I still sense this team is better than what we’ve seen. I’ll leave it up to you to determine what this means. > United were there for the taking and ultimately haven’t had to play that well. Individual mistakes and decision making have let us down horrendously. #lcfc > > — Jamie T (@thorpie54) November 10, 2024 _I’m not sure “there for the taking” is accurate. They played well and we didn’t._ Leicester City: Mads Hermansen, James Justin (Kasey McAteer 84’), Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard, Victor Kristiansen, Boubakary Soumare, Wilfred Ndidi (Bilal El Khannouss 70’), Harry Winks (C), Abdul Fatawu, Facundo Buonanotte, Jordan Ayew (Odsonne Edouard 88’) Manchester United: André Onana, Lisandro Martínez, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, Diogo Dalot, Bruno Fernandes, Manuel Ugarte, Casemiro, Rasmus Højlund, Marcus Rashford, Amad * * * **Key Moments and Notes** 1’- Obviously, the big news is that Jamie Vardy is unable to participate due to a back injury. Interestingly, Buonanotte is lining up on the right, meaning Fatawu is on the left. That’s worth watching. 7’- The United press isn’t aggressive, but it’s working. The Foxes have given the ball away under little pressure several times. 16’- The Foxes win their first corner. It’s poor, but it’s really the first sign of life from the City attack. 17’- GOAL! Absolutely shambolic. Kristiansen puts the ball out for a throw to break up a United counter. The Red Devils see the defence napping and take the throw quickly. Fernandes plays a one-two with Amad, finds himself unmarked on the edge of the area, and beats Hermansen with a low drive. Ayew was the closest defender. 25’- Fatawu spots Onana off his line and tries his luck from distance. And, by “distance,” I mean 60 meters. It goes as well as you might imagine. 27’- Half-chance for City. Ndidi runs into space behind the back line and Buonanotte plays a peach of a ball to him. It’s a difficult ball to control, but the Nigeria man’s first touch is a good one. Unfortunately, with Onana closing the gap, the second touch isn’t good and the keeper is in a position to gather. 38’- GOAL! Too easy. United move the ball far too easily in the Leicester half with players making unmarked runs all over the place. Rashford whips in a cross that Højlund misses. It runs to Fernandes, who gets his header all wrong, but it comes off Kristiansen’s thigh and into the net. Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images _He claimed it, of course..._ 45’- Referee Peter Bankes has been loathe to blow his whistle, but Ugarte gives him little choice. The Uruguayan bowls over Buonanotte and Justin without making much effort to play the ball on either occasion. 45+2’- Close! United counter at the death and probably should have a third. Amad jinks around three defenders and blasts a shot that Hermansen saves with the tip of his toes. HALFTIME: Manchester United 2 - 0 Leicester City * * * 45’- The second half is underway with both sides unchanged. 48’- Casimero is unimpressed when he’s penalised for going six yards out of his way to knock Fatawu to the ground after Dalot was beaten again. 55’- Buonanotte and Fatawu are playing very hard and occasionally well. However, they’re both trying to win the match on their own. This is very hard to watch. 59’- Former Fox Jonny Evans is on along with Alejandro Garnacho. This is news because it means Dalot is off. The Foxes may find attacking down the left flank a little more difficult. 64’- Buonanotte lunges in on Martinez and it’s late. He catches the fullback with his studs and sees yellow. He’ll miss the next match against Chelsea. 70’- Bilal El Khannouss is on for Ndidi. It was a busy day for the former Genk man who did a lot well but couldn’t summon anything resembling a final touch. 79’- Absolutely nothing of interest happening on the pitch. That’s an exaggeration, but nothing remotely interesting is happening. We’re not toothless; we’ve never even heard of the concept of “teeth.” 82’- GOAL! Well, something interesting happened, but not in a good way. United play the ball out of the back. Fernandes finds Garnacho on the edge of the area and he curls an unstoppable effort into the far corner. Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images 84’- Justin is off and Kasey McAteer is on for him. Left it a bit late... 88’- ...it could always be later. Odsonne Edouard replaces Ayew. 90’- We’ll have six minutes of time added on. That doesn’t feel like a good thing today. 90+6’- Full time. Finally. .................................................