Defensive ineptitude set to cost Leicester their Premier League spot
For much of this season the common consensus was that Leicester City were too good to go down. Anyone who still holds that belief has clearly not seen them play recently.
Monday 8th May may prove to be the most decisive day of all in the Premier League relegation battle. Huge wins for Nottingham Forest and Everton lifted that duo out of the dropzone. Southampton’s defeat by Forest means they are almost down. And Leicester’s 5-3 loss to Fulham leaves them two points adrift of safety with just three rounds of fixtures remaining.
Make no mistake: the Foxes are massively up against it in their bid to preserve their top-tier status. An in-form Liverpool team will travel to the King Power Stadium on Monday, hungry for all three points as they eye a top-four finish. Dean Smith’s side will then do battle with Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
A home game against West Ham United on the final weekend does not represent the toughest conclusion to the campaign, but Leicester could be dead and buried by then.
The manner of their defeat at Craven Cottage on Monday was hugely concerning. On paper at least, mid-table teams with nothing to play for are often the ideal opponents during the run-in. Yet Fulham tore Leicester apart in the first half, taking a 3-0 lead into the interval.
Smith must have spent most of his team talk urging his players to score the next goal. Instead, Leicester conceded again within six minutes of the restart. They staged a minor fightback as the game wore on and Fulham took their foot off the gas, but conceding five goals doomed them to defeat.
It was notable that James Maddison questioned the team’s “hunger” after the match. The England international later clarified his comments, insisting his teammates did not lack the will to win. The ease with which Fulham continually breached their backline suggested otherwise.
After assessing the squad he inherited from Brendan Rodgers, it appears Smith concluded that Leicester’s best chance of escaping trouble was to go on the offensive. That is certainly the approach they took in a recent meeting with Everton, which was a remarkably open encounter for a relegation six-pointer.
The two strugglers shared the spoils after a 2-2 draw, but Leicester could easily have lost the game. Against Fulham they again defended shoddily. Marco Silva’s side were able to create chances at will, with Leicester’s off-the-ball structure virtually non-existent. The midfield was just as culpable as the backline for a woeful defensive display against opponents that had lost eight of their last 10 matches.
It is a shortcoming that has been present right throughout the campaign. Leicester have not kept a clean sheet in any of their last 20 Premier League matches; their most recent shut-out was before the World Cup.
Only Leeds United, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest have conceded more goals than their 64 in 2022/23. But if we focus only on games played since the turn of the year, Leicester have the second-worst defensive record in the division. Meanwhile only Southampton (12) have amassed fewer points than Leicester (13) from New Year’s Day onwards.
Putting the ball in the back of the net has not been such a problem. The Foxes have scored 49 goals in total, a tally bettered by only eight other teams. The fact they have a decent attacking record yet are in the relegation zone emphasises just how defensively inept Leicester have been this term.
Given the identity of their upcoming opponents, it is increasingly difficult to see Smith’s side finishing above the dreaded dotted line. Leicester probably need to take a minimum of five points from their remaining three games. That will not be easy.
All things considered this has been a dismal season for a club that was challenging for the Champions League and winning domestic silverware just two years ago. Only last season Leicester reached the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League. They are now facing the prospect of playing Championship football for the first time since 2014.
