Ipswich Town return to Portman Road with a big game against Leicester City this weekend. Alex Jones takes a closer look at the Foxes...
Turbulent summer
Leicester were promoted with a cloud of negativity hanging over them.
Despite lifting the Championship title, fans weren’t overly impressed. They were expected to finish comfortably clear of the chasing pack and storm back into the Premier League.
Instead, manager Enzo Maresca was criticized for his style of play while off-field issues meant that they were expected to be docked points for breaching Financial Fair Play [FFP] regulations. Ultimately, that never materialised.
Maresca moved to Chelsea to replace Mauricio Pochettino, which raised eyebrows at the King Power Stadium. The Foxes were seemingly keen on bringing in Graham Potter as his replacement, but turned to Steve Cooper instead. It was not a popular decision among supporters.
While Ipswich and Southampton spent a significant amount to change their team over the summer, Leicester did not. Star midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was sold to Chelsea for a fee of around £30 million, but he was their only major departure.
Bobby Reid joined on a free transfer while Facundo Buonanotte and Odsonne Edouard arrived on loan from Brighton and Crystal Palace respectively.
The club spent money on Abdul Fatawu, Caleb Okoli, Oliver Skipp Jordan Ayew and Bilal El Khannous, but they certainly didn’t break the bank to do so. Yes, they had to be careful in the transfer window, but they valued consistency in their squad. It was seen as a big risk.
Proving the doubters wrong
Before the start of the campaign, I tipped Leicester to finish bottom of the Premier League. I wasn’t the only one. The off-field negativity felt like it could define their season, and it seeped through into the start of the campaign.
The 1-1 draw at home to Tottenham was seen as fortunate, although it’s hard to argue that it was a poor result. They were then beaten away at Fulham and at home by Aston Villa either side of a 4-0 demolition of League Two side Tranmere Rovers in the Carabao Cup.
Draws against Crystal Palace and Everton helped them get points on the board, but things surprisingly reached boiling point in a Carabao Cup game against Walsall, where the Foxes were outplayed but scraped through on penalties. There were chants of ‘Cooper, Cooper sort it out’ and ‘this is embarrassing’ from the away end, while one Leicester supporter even invaded the pitch to confront the manager.
An improved performance at Arsenal saw them level at 2-2 heading into stoppage time, an own goal from Wilfred Ndidi and a Kai Havertz strike condemned them to a 4-2 defeat. Perhaps it was the wake-up call they needed.
They earned their first win of the campaign a week later, downing Bournemouth at the King Power Stadium thanks to Buonanotte’s early goal. A week later, they came from 2-0 down to win away at Southampton, with Ayew scoring at the death to earn all three points.
A 3-1 defeat at home to local rivals Nottingham Forest – Cooper’s former team – did send alarm bells ringing, and they looked just as flat in their 5-2 loss at Manchester United in the Carabao Cup, although they made nine changes for that game.
On a whole, there are plenty of positives and negatives, but they balance out to show a team that certainly isn’t the worst in the league. The manager deserves a lot of credit for that, even if the fans are yet to be convinced.
He’s still got it!
Jamie Vardy is one of the most polarising figures in Premier League history. Leicester fans love him, rival supporters do not. He’s known for chugging Red Bull before games and celebrating in front of those who give him stick. He’s a wind-up merchant with the skills to back it up.
Rising up from non-league and into the top-flight, Vardy helped the Foxes win the Premier League title in 2015/16 while also featuring for them in the Champions League. On top of that, he has an FA Cup medal and 26 England caps. He’s scored 194 goals in 473 games for Leicester over the course of 13 seasons, earning the Golden Boot in 2019/20.
Given that he turns 38 in January, you’d be forgiven for thinking that his best days are behind him. He didn’t have a huge impact in the Championship last season, a campaign that was hampered by injury, but he seems to be a totally different player in the Premier League.
From nine games, he’s bagged four goals, which have come from just 11 shots. This includes the equaliser against Tottenham on the opening day and the opener against Crystal Palace. He goes into Saturday’s game with two goals in his last two games, having found the back of the net against Southampton and Nottingham Forest.
His movement hasn’t really dropped off over time and he’s just as clinical in the box. He’s someone that the Ipswich will need to work hard to stop.
Missing manager
One important factor going into this weekend is that Cooper might not be on the touchline to face Ipswich at Portman Road.
The Welshman has picked up three yellow cards, two of which came in the Premier League [v Aston Villa and Arsenal] while the other came in the Carabao Cup exit at Old Trafford.
All of them, of course, were for dissent. The most recent one came after Alejandro Garnacho scored Manchester United’s second goal against the Red Devils, where Diogo Dalot was in an offside position. Cooper was livid, with no VAR in place to overturn the decision, leading to referee Andy Madley giving him a yellow card.
Asked about it in his pre-match press conference, he said: "We haven't had confirmation on whether that is going to be the case. It's not ideal but it's fairly common, so we'll take it as it comes.
"It probably highlights the decision making of referees but we'll deal with that as it comes."
Should Cooper's ban be served this weekend, assistant manager Alan Tate is expected to take charge of things from the touchline while he provides him instructions from elsewhere in the stadium.
This is the first time that Ipswich have come up against a team without a manager in the dugout since beating Bristol Rovers 2-0 in the Carabao Cup last season, where Andy Mangan had to step in for the suspended Joey Barton.
Team news
The big issue for Leicester is Abdul Fatawu, who Cooper revealed is a 'doubt' going into the game in Suffolk. The winger was unavailable at Old Trafford with a groin injury and the club are still waiting for a scan.
Elsewhere, Victor Kristiansen [muscle] is back in training and available, as is striker Patson Daka [ankle]. Other than that, the Foxes are facing no significant injury issues.
Asked about potential changes, Cooper said: "We'll see. You pick a team that you think is best fit to deliver a plan to win the game. That doesn't necessarily mean that players played last night [v Manchester United] won't play at the weekend."
Possible XI: 4-2-3-1: Hermansen; Justin, Faes, Okoli, Kristiansen; Ndidi, Winks; Ayew, Buonanotte, Mavididi; Vardy
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