Leicester break dismal record that’s stood for 32 years as Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side hurtle towards relegation
IN THE midst of a turgid season, Leicester City have picked up another unwanted accolade.
Ruud van Nistelrooy‘s Foxes sit 19th in the table with 17 points from 30 games played, only slightly better than Derby County‘s 2007-08 campaign – their 11 points the fewest in Premier League history.
While they may not be the worst Premier League side ever, they have picked up another unwanted piece of history after losing 2-0 to Manchester City on Wednesday night.
Jack Grealish opened the scoring after just four minutes with his first goal since December 2023, which he later donated to his late brother.
Omar Marmoush doubled the Champions’ lead in the second half.
His contribution marked the 25th time this season that Leicester had conceded first in a match, more than any other team in Premier League history.
They surpass previous record holders Ipswich Town, who in 1994-95 conceded first in 24 of their 38 games on their way to a 22nd place finish.
That record had stood for thirty years.
Defence, unsurprisingly, is among Leicester’s leading problem areas as they stare down the barrel at a prompt return to the Championship.
They have not kept a clean sheet since since beating Bournemouth 1-0 in their seventh match of the season.
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They are also on track to concede a club record number of Premier League goals this season, having shipped 67 so far.
The score to beat is 80 goals against, a record set as Leicester were relegated alongside Ipswich in 1994-95.
That leaves Leicester with eight matches to concede less than 13 goals – a tall order as Van Nistelrooy’s leaky backline have conceded an average of 2.3 goals per game in their last 10 outings.
They failed to score in eight of those 10 matches, most recently finding the back of the net in a 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Old Trafford on February 7, almost two months ago.
One must look even further back for their most recent win, which came away to Tottenham Hotspur in late January after goals from Jamie Vardy and Bilal El Khannouss.
Van Nistelrooy has won just three of 20 matches since taking over from Steve Cooper in December, with Leicester now twelve points adrift of safety.
The Dutchman took over the club after a brief stint as Manchester United‘s interim manager during which he won three of four games before Ruben Amorim was signed from Sporting CP.