Leicester City

Leicester are interested in signing Portsmouth winger Josh Murphy, 30, before Monday's transfer deadline. (Pete O'Rourke, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Friday's gossip column here.

"I think we need this transfer window to slam shut. Fatawu and El Khannouss and a few others we desperately need to cling on to."

Owynn Palmer-Atkin and Steve Howard are joined by BBC Radio Leicester's Ady Dayman to talk about the latest transfers and the Foxes' home game against Birmingham City on Friday (20:00 BST).

Leicester will be looking for back-to-back wins.

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

The EFL weekend gets under way with a mouthwatering clash between Leicester and Birmingham at the King Power on Friday night (20:00 BST).

The two sides were playing two divisions apart last season but go into this match with the unbeaten Blues two places and one point ahead of the Foxes in the fledgling Championship standings.

• Leicester City have won each of their past four league games against Birmingham City, two via a 2-1 scoreline and the other two via a 3-2 scoreline.

• Birmingham City have won just two of their past 12 away league games against Leicester City (D2 L8), failing to win on any of their last four visits to the King Power Stadium.

• Leicester have won each of their past three home league games and will be looking to win four in succession for the first time since April 2024.

• Through their opening three Championship matches this season, Birmingham have faced just 18 shots in total and four shots on target – no side has faced fewer of either in the 2025-26 competition.

• Amongst the 103 players in the Championship this season to have attempted 100+ passes, no player holds a better pass accuracy rate than Leicester's Harry Winks (96.3%), whilst teammate Boubakary Soumare ranks second (93.4%)

Kate Blakemore
Fan writer

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

Two games into the Championship season and Leicester fans were already on edge about facing a newly-promoted Charlton at The Valley, such is the feeling in the camp at present.

Charlton were coming into the game full of confidence and a robust defensive record, whereas Leicester have had a disappointing, stuttering start to their campaign.

The behaviour of both fans and players has been a hot topic at the club.

Fans have questioned the commitment of the players, with Harry Winks' lack of goal celebration in the EFL Cup game at Huddersfield and walking straight down the tunnel after the Preston defeat, plus Wout Faes cupping his ear to fans in response to his winning goal against Sheffield Wednesday, having been booed onto the pitch as a substitute.

In defence of his peers, Abdul Fatawu wrote a heartfelt response to fans, asking for unity in both the wins and the losses.

Fatawu is a fan favourite and it seemed fitting that it was his wonder strike that sealed victory with the only goal of the game at Charlton.

Nathan Jones called it a "one in a million" goal that snatched the points off the Addicks, but if he checked the form guide he would see that this is the second time in a month that Fatawu has scored such a goal... maybe someone didn't do their homework.

To boo or not to boo? That is the question. While opinions are always mixed amongst fans over players, tactics, transfers and the now ever-present PSR, Leicester fans need to ensure such opinions, especially on matchdays, do not divide us as a fanbase.

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

"He's got the club in his heart. I think he's settled in brilliantly and he's without doubt our number one now."

Former Leicester City winger Matt Piper joins Owynn Palmer-Watkin to discuss the extent of goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk's impact following his outstanding performance in the 1-0 win over Charlton Athletic.

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

Leicester's one-time England full-back James Justin, 27, is set for a £10m move to Premier League Leeds. (Mike McGrath, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Monday's gossip column here.

Chris Peddy
BBC Sport England at The Valley

Image source, PA Media

Leicester City head coach Marti Cifuentes said the club want to keep Abdul Fatawu beyond the end of the transfer window.

The Ghana international scored a sumptuous winner in the Foxes' 1-0 win away at Charlton on Saturday.

Fatawu, 21, has been linked with a move away from the King Power Stadium, as has Bilal El Khannouss, who was deemed not ready to play against the Addicks by Cifuentes.

"It was a fantastic goal that summarises really clearly what Abdul means for us, extreme quality especially in the last third," Cifuentes told BBC Sport England.

"We played against a team that was very aggressive in the high press, very physical, it can create some frustration because everything is happening around our box.

"For me today the most important thing is that we took a step forward in the identity and culture that I want to build at the club.

"I saw a team that, despite there is 100 things we can do better, and that's on me, I saw a team that cared, that wanted to work hard for each other, we had to defend low and make a run with each other for it.

"And for me that's the most important, that connection with the fans, the fans played their part, they were really strong throughout the game and that sets the foundation.

"It was far from perfect. But what we can learn from this one is stronger than just having a fantastic game and winning 4-0."

On speculation linking Fatawu with a move away from the club, Cifuentes added: "It's a lot of speculation around most of our players.

"That means they're good players and we know that. There are rumours and speculation around them. The target is we arrive on 1 September in a good position with a team we want to have.

"There are some key players we want to keep, and Abdul is one of them."

Chris Peddy
BBC Sport England at The Valley

Image source, Rex Features

Charlton Athletic head coach Nathan Jones described the referee's decision to disallow Lloyd Jones' goal in his side's 1-0 defeat by Leicester City as a "Hans Christian Andersen fairytale".

Jones headed in to seemingly equalise after Abdul Fatawu had given the Foxes the lead but the goal was ruled out for a foul in the box.

Speaking to BBC Radio London, Jones said: "It's a one in a million strike to win the game for them but we had so many opportunities to have got something from the game and I think if we'd scored we'd have gone on to win the game.

"But that's the lesson. It's hard to be disappointed with the level of performance because if that was 5-1 it would probably have been a fair result.

"I thought we were totally dominant, it was just they demonstrated that ounce of quality that we didn't and that's why we're sitting here with no points.

"We've created enough chances to win three games and then the disallowed goal is an absolute travesty, I don't get it.

"I'm disappointed but I'm so proud because if that's our level then I'm excited about what we can achieve this season."

On the disallowed goal: "It's a fairytale, a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, an absolute fairytale. We caused them so many problems from set plays and that was another one.

"They were released from jail by an individual that I just can't comment on."

On Miles Leaburn replacing Charlie Kelman up front, Jones added: "It was tactical. Considering the level and where he was I thought he was truly outstanding in his play today.

"That was the decision. We've got real competition here, people have to keep at that level. There's no automatic choices and everyone has to compete."

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds

Newly-promoted Charlton Athletic will look to continue their unbeaten start to the Championship season when they host Leicester City in Saturday's early kick-off (12:30 BST).

The Addicks have started solidly, picking up four points in their opening two fixtures, whilst Leicester City have begun inconsistently, winning one and losing one.

The Foxes are seeking their first away win on their return to the Championship after being relegated from the Premier League.

• Charlton Athletic have lost just one of their last 11 league games against Leicester City (W6 D4), scoring exactly two goals in each of those six victories

• Leicester City won their last league game against Charlton Athletic 3-0 in March 2014 and will be looking to record successive victories against the Addicks for the first time since October 1990.

• Charlton Athletic kept a clean sheet in both their opening Championship matches. The Addicks haven't kept three clean sheets across their opening three league games of a campaign in the top two tiers since 1998-99 in the Premier League.

• Leicester City have failed to win any of their last nine away league games (D2 L7), their longest run of losses on the road since a 15-match streak between May 2016 and February 2017.

• This game will be Charlton Athletic's 1,000th home league game in England's second tier, becoming the 20th side to hit that milestone and the first since Burnley last season.

Image source, Rex Features

Leicester City boss Marti Cifuentes said full-backs Ricardo Pereira and James Justin could return from injury to play against Charlton Athletic on Saturday.

New club captain Pereira, 31, is yet to feature for the Foxes this season due to a recurring hamstring injury.

"He was very eager to come with the team, so he travelled to Preston, but we didn't risk him. It's very good news for us," Cifuentes told BBC Radio Leicester.

Justin, 27, suffered a dead leg in Saturday's defeat at Preston North End and was substituted, but he could also feature at The Valley.

"He's progressing and we'll make a decision tomorrow," Cifuentes said.

Victor Kristiansen's fitness continues to be a source of concern for Cifuentes, however, with the Dane likely to remain unavailable for several weeks.

The 22-year-old is training away from the first-team squad as he looks to recover from an injury suffered in training.

Australian central defender Harry Souttar remains a long-term absentee with an Achilles injury.

Chris Forryan
Fan writer

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, Rex Features

If a week in politics is a long time, a week in football can be an eternity.

There was a general feeling of well-being at Leicester City at the start of the season despite all the troubles the club found itself in.

Pre-season under Andy King had looked good with better performances on show, and the players remembering how to pass the ball. We also rediscovered that there were two halves to a football pitch, with the team under Ruud Van Nistelrooy hardly venturing over the halfway line.

New boss Marti Cifuentes arrived with a welcome that even the second coming might not generate, and we went on to beat a top-six Italian side facing European competition this season.

After starting out with an OK performance against a team in more trouble than ourselves, it's all kind of gone wrong. The four-, five- and six-nil predictions that were flying around against Sheffield Wednesday failed to materialise, and we had to come from behind to get the three points.

A midweek Carabao Cup exit to League One Huddersfield followed, then a 2-1 loss at the weekend against Preston North End - a team that were everything we are not, including being a team rather than a group of individuals.

I wonder how those fans that were predicting an easy season for us - even getting promotion with a points deduction - are feeling now?

Reality stings a bit, doesn't it? It is, of course, early doors, but the squad is still full of overpriced, overpaid players who we are unlikely to shift, as basically they are not up to it.

In Marti we trust, but it looks like a long hard season.

Listen to more from Chris Forryan at Leicester Till I Die, external

After becoming the Championship's youngest scorer at the weekend, Leicester City teenager Jeremy Monga is being tracked by Barcelona and Real Madrid. (The 72), external

Meanwhile, Harry Winks is being linked with a move back to the Premier League - with Sunderland the latest club reportedly interested in the midfielder. (Sunderland Echo), external

Image source, Getty Images

It might be very early doors but there are worries for Leicester City.

After scraping past 10-man Sheffield Wednesday on the opening day, Leicester then got knocked out of the League Cup on penalties by third-tier Huddersfield Town, despite having named a strong starting XI.

They were then deservedly beaten by a team who survived by just a point on the final day of last season, in Preston.

There was over an hour without a shot on target, highlighting that Marti Cifuentes has plenty of work to do on that training ground to convince people that Leicester can bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

Full credit though to Preston, who will want to forget the last miserable campaign.

They scored two cracking goals and with the addition of exciting young Tottenham loanee Alfie Devine in their ranks, could this finally be the year, Preston fans?

Leicester boss Marti Cifuentes praised record-breaking teenager Jeremy Monga after the Foxes 2-1 defeat to Preston.

"He deserves the credit, he is a talented boy and we are trying to take care of him because he is very humble and that is very important for me because the way he works on the pitch is excellent," he told BBC Radio Leicester.

"He wants to learn, he is eager to improve and he has a lot of talent so I'm happy that he scored his first goal and I'm sure he's going to stay humble as well and I'm not happy only about the goal but the whole performance.

"He is showing character and personality and we're going to try to help him to be the player we think he can be."

Regarding the game, Cifuentes was disappointed in his team's performance as they tasted defeat for the first time in the Championship this season.

"It's not a good performance and it's not a good result and obviously we are disappointed. I know what we can expect with Preston, they are very clear in terms of identity, and the two goals that we conceded were poor," he said.

"Our positioning especially in the first half was not as good as it could have been we didn't cope with the long balls and in behind, we could have done better.

"We improved in the second half got the goal to change the momentum and when we got the draw we got some chances but conceded a goal that we should have coped better with. The tracking back could have been better but it's a good goal from them good quality on the cross and a good finish."

Leicester's 21-year-old Morocco international midfielder Bilal El Khannouss could yet make a £30m move to Leeds. (Leeds Live, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Friday's gossip column here.

Leicester City visit Preston North End on Saturday (15:00 BST) as they aim to recover from their Carabao Cup loss to Huddersfield Town on penalties in midweek.

The Foxes did manage to scrape a win over struggling Sheffield Wednesday in the their opening Championship match though, while Preston earned a point at QPR before squeezing past League Two side Barrow via an own goal in the cup.

• Preston North End have failed to win any of their last five league games against Leicester City (D1 L4), since a 2-1 win in September 2009 courtesy of goals from Richard Chaplow and Neil Mellor.

• Leicester City are unbeaten across their last seven away league games against Preston North End (W3 D4), winning 3-0 on their last visit to Deepdale in April 2024.

• Preston have won their opening home game in just one of the last five league campaigns (D1 L3), with that win coming against Sunderland in 2023-24 (2-1).

• Leicester have won four of their last five league games at this level (L1), netting 2+ goals in each victory including a 3-0 success at Deepdale in April 2024.

• On MD1 of the 2025-26 Championship season, Leicester City's Bilal El Khannouss provided more assists than any other player (2), both of which came from dead balls, while no player created more chances than his four.