Leicester City

"I think we will be a little freer in the way that we approach Middlesbrough, because they have been doing so well this season, but make no mistake it is a huge game and then we have Norwich after that - who are really struggling.

"These next two games are huge for Marti Cifuentes."

Owynn Palmer-Atkin is joined by former Foxes defender Matt Piper and Lox from fan channel Blue Tinted Glasses as they reflect on the 2-0 defeat by Blackburn and look forward to what to expect when Leicester face Middlesbrough on Tuesday (19:45 GMT).

Leicester will be seeking to get their promotion hopes back on track on Tuesday (19:45 GMT) when they welcome Middlesbrough to the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes have now lost their past three games in the league, and have registered just one win in five - they are 14th in the Championship.

Meanwhile, automatic promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough suffered a blow last time out, when Watford put three past them in just Boro's second loss of the season.

• Leicester went on a 14-game unbeaten run in the league against Middlesbrough between 2003 and 2017 (W6 D8), but Boro did the double over them in the 2023-24 campaign when the teams last met.

• Middlesbrough beat Leicester 2-1 in their most recent visit to the King Power Stadium in February 2024, but have not won consecutive league visits to the Foxes since 2000-01 and 2001-02 in the Premier League.

• Leicester are winless in their past six midweek (Tue/Wed/Thu) league games (D1 L5), since winning 3-1 at home to West Ham United in December 2024.

• Middlesbrough have won just two of their past 20 away league games against opponents that were relegated from the Premier League the season prior, beating Norwich in November 2022 and Leicester in February 2024 (D8 L10).

• Leicester manager Marti Cifuentes has lost all three of his league meetings with Middlesbrough - but has won both of his two meetings with Boro boss Rob Edwards, doing the double over his Luton side with QPR last season (2-1 both home and away), after the second of which Edwards stepped down from his role with the Hatters.

Leicester City manager Marti Cifuentes spoke to BBC Radio Leicester following Saturday's 2-0 defeat by Blackburn Rovers.

"It was definitely a poor performance, there is no hiding from that," he said.

"There is more in this group of players, I'm sure, and we now need a reaction. I understand that we cannot keep waiting. I expect much more from them.

"When a club like Leicester is in the Championship, the expectation is that they are always at the top. And at the moment we are not achieving those standards.

"It's very hard as a manager to come into a place that I knew would be a difficult situation. But I do believe in my strength and quality as a manager, and do believe in the club project.

"I'm aware as well that this would not be easy and that it would not be quick. But we do have to get better, there are no excuses or hiding. We need to raise our standards."

Leicester City will look to end their three-match winless streak when they host a struggling Blackburn Rovers side on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

The Foxes lost both of their past two matches to drop out of the top six and into 10th place, two points short of sixth placed Charlton Athletic and 11 under pacemakers Coventry City.

Meanwhile, Blackburn's last game provided them with a much needed win over relegated side Southampton to escape the bottom three.

However, Rovers are just one point above the relegation line and will want to increase the distance to keep their spirits high.

• Leicester City have lost just one of their last 10 home league games against Blackburn Rovers (W5 D4), though that sole defeat did come the last time this exact fixture was played in May 2024 (0-2).

• After winning their last away league game against Leicester City, Blackburn Rovers will be looking to beat the Foxes in successive away matches for the first time since January 1991.

• Leicester have drawn each of their last three home league games and not since March 2009 in League One have the Foxes seen four consecutive home matches finish in stalemate.

• Blackburn have lost each of their last two away league games without scoring, but they haven't lost three in succession on the road whilst failing to score each time in any since October 2022.

• Leicester have conceded just one goal from set pieces in the Championship so far this season (excluding penalties), fewer than any other side.

Kate Blakemore
Fan writer

Image source, Shutterstock

Leicester's form has turned on a sixpence from a resilient one defeat in eight, to a concerning one win in eight, thanks to the defeats at Hull and Millwall.

Already the topic of blame is circulating within the fanbase and, naturally, this always seems to turn to the obvious - to sack the manager or not.

Leicester would do well to learn from their managerial errors of recent years, with Marti Cifuentes being their fifth permanent manager since 2023.

Change doesn't necessarily bring better, it can actually bring the opposite if done too often. Marti had a good transfer window, given his (lack of) resources but he needs more time and further windows.

On the field, Leicester are clearly lacking a number nine. Whilst goals haven't necessarily dried up, especially when compared to the record-breaking drought of last year, it is concerning fans that the team is struggling to create chances frequently during matches.

We have scored some wonder goals so far this season, but it would be foolish to think that these can continue or that they can be relied upon to get us out of a sticky spot. Individual errors have also been costly at the back.

We need to play with more potency and venom and firm up our underbelly, which has softened in recent years and some of these issues can only be addressed during the transfer window.

Two important home matches await in the coming week against Blackburn and Middlesbrough, and Leicester need to put some Ws on the board to keep pace with the leading pack if promotion is a realistic achievement this season.

Listen to more from Kate Blakemore at Leicester Till I Die., external

"There was walking, trudging back to the halfway line. They didn't have that belief."

Join Matty Fryatt and listen to post-match reaction from Leicester City boss Marti Cifuentes after their 1-0 defeat to Millwall on Saturday.

Listen to the full episode of When you're Smiling and more on BBC Sounds.

"Millwall often thrive when there's a big team coming to the Den."

Owynn Palmer-Atkin is joined by Dan Sexton from That Millwall Podcast to learn more about the Foxes' opposition and look ahead to their trip to the Den on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Listen to the full episode of When You're Smiling and more on BBC Sounds

"At the minute for Leicester, if a striker misses a good chance, it is the end of the world because they're not going to get another one that game."

Former Leicester City striker Matty Fryatt and Ric Flair from the Big Strong Leicester Boys Podcast join Owynn Palmer-Atkin to reflect on Tuesday's defeat at Hull, and discuss the Foxes' lack of firepower in the attacking areas, as they look ahead to Saturday's game at Millwall.

Listen to the full episode of When You're Smiling and more on BBC Sounds

Millwall will look for a fourth successive league win as they welcome Leicester City on Saturday (15:00 BST).

A strong start to the season for the Lions sees them in the third spot on the table and while they wouldn't be able to break into the top two, they will certainly be looking to apply some pressure on those above.

Whereas Leicester City have had an underwhelming season so far, falling out of the top six following their loss to Hull City in the week, and will be aiming not to fall further behind.

• Millwall have won four of their last five home league games against Leicester City (L1), keeping three clean sheets across that run.

• Leicester City have won three of their last four league games against Millwall (L1), though did lose the most recent encounter 1-0 in April 2024.

• Millwall have won each of their last three league games and will be looking to win four in succession for the first time since November 2024 (run of four 1-0 wins).

• Leicester have won just four of their 11 league games so far this season (D5 L2); their last campaign in the Championship in 2023-24 saw them win 10 of their opening 11 matches en route to winning the title.

• Millwall have 20 points from their opening 11 league games this season (W6 D2 L3); it's the earliest they've reached that total in the second tier since 1995-96 (also 11 games).

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester City manager Marti Cifuentes, speaking to BBC Radio Leicester after his side's 2-1 defeat by Hull City on Tuesday:

"A really bad first half, probably the worst first half of the season. I take responsibility because I'm not happy with the performance.

"I'm not happy at all. It's far from the standards I want. It makes me feel very angry.

"The way we defended the second goal, we missed the transition. The tracking back should be better. Especially in this league, there is some basics we need to be better at. I take responsibility for that.

"It makes me reflect about a number of things. We know we are at the start of this process, but that is no excuse.

"In the second half, we had a lot of chances. I think there was only one on target. We need to reflect on how we improve in the final third. No one can be dominant for 95 minutes. We need to cope better with the opposition's momentum."

Image source, Getty Images

Promising Foxes striker Jake Evans has signed his first professional contract with Leicester City.

The 17-year-old, who made his Premier League debut against Brighton in April, featured in four top-flight games last season.

While he has yet to feature in the first team this campaign, Evans has scored three goals in five PL2 games for the under-21s and struck twice in the Premier League Cup last Friday against Charlton.

Northampton-born Evans has been part of the club's academy set-up since the under-9s.

Image source, PA Media

Leicester boss Marti Cifuentes is jumping at the chance to get back on the pitch at Hull City on Tuesday night after the disappointment of being held at home by Portsmouth.

A fifth draw in their last six matches on Saturday night was a setback for Leicester's promotion aspirations but their manager wants them to take out the frustration on Hull at the MKM Stadium.

The Tigers won 3-2 at Birmingham City on Saturday and after an inconsistent start under Sergej Jakirovic have lost just once in their last six Championship fixtures .

"When you have this feeling almost of a defeat, when you have a bad feeling, I think the best thing that happens is that you want to play immediately," Cifuentes told BBC Radio Leicester.

"It's a quick turnaround and we are going to get all the guys together, try to recover, try to analyse what we could have done better and and bring the positives into the game.

"We want to be very self-critical on the things we need to improve and make sure we improve our performance because Hull are coming from a strong win away and we can expect they will be in a good mood playing at home and we will definitely have to be at our best to get the three points."

Hull City are going for three league victories in a row for the first time since the start of October last year.

Leicester's only Championship defeat so far this season came in their first away game of the campaign at Preston North End.

• Hull have only won two of their past nine league meetings with Leicester City (D3 L4), with the most recent ending 2-2 in March 2024.

• Leicester have only won one of their past five league trips to Hull City (D2 L2), winning 1-0 in the Premier League in December 2014.

• After their 1-0 win over Sheffield United, Hull could win back-to-back home league games for only the second time since the start of last season, last doing so in March.

• Leicester have won as many of their five away games in the Championship this season (2) as they managed in 19 on the road in the Premier League last term.

• Hull's Oli McBurnie has been directly involved in 15 goals in his past 14 home league games in English football, scoring 10 and assisting another five. McBurnie scored in both of his two previous home league matches against Leicester as a Sheffield United player.

"Another concern about this team is that they get ahead and then they don't take games away from teams.

"The way that they controlled that first-half and played to what we saw in the second-half was night and day."

Former Foxes winger Matt Piper discusses Leicester City's fifth draw of the season, as they were held 1-1 by Portsmouth having let a first-half lead slip, and the concerns building around the team.

Includes a post-match interview with boss Marti Cifuentes.

Listen to the full post-match reaction and more Leicester City content on BBC Sounds.