Leicester City

John Bennett
BBC Final Score reporter

Image source, Shutterstock

We all have a list in our heads of the best goals we've ever seen live.

Two of my top five have now been scored at the King Power Stadium.

Way back in 2006 Joey Gudjonsson scored against Hull City from the halfway line for Leicester.

I never thought I'd see a goal scored from a greater distance, let alone at the same ground, but Abdul Fatawu's wonder strike was from a good 10 or even 15 yards further away.

It was an incredible effort and took brilliant quick thinking from the Ghanaian to spot Ipswich keeper Christian Walton way off his line.

After the game, manager Marti Cifuentes said it was something Fatawu tries very often at the training ground and he came close to scoring a similar goal at Swansea, so it's obviously something he's been thinking about for a while.

The goal lit up what felt like a significant victory for Leicester, Cifuentes calling it a "huge win" and "an important step forward".

With players like Fatawu - and Bobby De Cordova-Reid who also scored a cracking goal - hitting their stride, Leicester can suddenly look forward to the vital Christmas run of games with a huge amount of confidence.

And opposition keepers will be well advised to stay on their line...

Leicester boss Marti Cifuentes finally had reasons to smile as Abdul Fatawu scored from inside his own half in their huge 3-1 home win over Ipswich.

Cifuentes told BBC Radio Leicester: "It's a huge win and the performance was really strong.

"We scored fantastic goals, but we played at a high level.

"The first one helped us to start the game with a positive feeling, which is important. I'm very happy for Bobby [De Cordova-Reid] who is showing how important he is to the team.

"This moment of brilliance and quality from Abdul - it's a fantastic goal. It's one of those, which is very special, and I'm happy for him because he's a good boy who works hard and is improving all the time.

"At the end we cannot forget the things we need to improve, but the way we responded (from Wednesday's 2-2 draw at Bristol City) was important."

Image source, Opta

Stuttering Leicester need to pick up some form soon if they are to live up to their expectations of making a push for promotion.

They'll be looking to bounce back on Saturday against Ipswich (15:00 GMT) after squandering a two-goal lead in Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Bristol City.

In-form Ipswich are unbeaten in their past three games and could make it three wins on the spin if they claim three points at the King Power Stadium.

Kieran McKenna's side, who sit fourth in the Championship, have tasted defeat just once across their past 10 matches (W6 D3).

• Leicester City are unbeaten in their last six league games against Ipswich Town (W3 D3) since a 1-0 defeat back in March 2013 under Nigel Pearson.

• Ipswich are winless in their last 11 away league matches against Leicester (D5 L6) since winning 2-1 on Boxing Day in 2002.

• Leicester lost their last home league game, going down 3-2 to Sheffield United – they last suffered consecutive home Championship defeats in March 2024, with the second of those defeats coming against Martí Cifuentes when he was QPR manager.

• Ipswich Town have picked up 10 points in their last five away league games (W3 D1 L1), more than in their previous 15 games on the road combined (9).

• Leicester have lost nine home league games in 2025 – only twice before have they lost more: 10 in both 1914 and 2007.

Image source, PA Media

Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna says it is hard to acclimatise to the Championship again after relegation from the Premier League.

The Tractor Boys visit Leicester City on Saturday (15:00 GMT) for a meeting between two sides who dropped down from the top flight last season.

Town are fourth - five points off the automatic promotion spots - but the Foxes have endured an inconsistent season so far and sit 13th, three points back from the play-off places.

"It's probably different for different clubs but it is difficult and especially if you don't get off to a good start and you can't get that momentum and turn it around if you're coming off a losing season," McKenna told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"Trying to get that turned around is certainly not easy. You've seen all different things over the years. You've seen teams get off to a good start then everyone is happy and things push on.

"You've seen Luton compete in the Premier League and then get relegated straight through [to League One]. And then you've seen everything in-between over the last decade.

"It's certainly a challenge and turning around momentum in all aspects from the season before is difficult and that's what we're still fighting to do here."

McKenna says Leicester are "probably not happy with where they are and it's not gone as well as they would've liked".

However, he is still expecting a difficult game and says it will take a "big performance" to pick up all three points.

"It's of course a challenge coming down from the Premier League," McKenna added.

"Still when I watch them, they're very often the better footballing side in a game. They play very well through the pitch and play some good football.

"They still have really good players. I think Marti [Cifuentes] is a really good coach. He did a really good job at QPR, certainly when we faced him in the Championship last time around, I thought they were really well-organised."

Listen to McKenna's pre-match interview in full on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester City manager Marti Cifuentes spoke to BBC Radio Leicester after Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Bristol City.

"We come to every game with the intention to get the three points, so it's always disappointing not to get those, especially after a very good first half," he said.

"I think we did so well, we understood really well that Bristol City are a team that likes to press really high, that likes man-to-man situations and we understood where the space was and how to exploit it.

"Then obviously when you are 2-0 up we spoke at half-time about the need to score the third one and to not drop, and to understand that they would push from the very beginning.

"Then it's very disappointing to concede a goal in less than one minute. So probably the impact of this goal was too much. We needed to control the second half and the scenario better because we were still in the lead, but it's obviously disappointing to get only one point from this."

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester City will be without forward Patson Daka until the new year after he was called up to the Zambia squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.

The 27-year-old is part of head coach Moses Sichone's 28-man squad as they look to win the tournament for just the second time having lifted the trophy in 2012.

Daka has managed just one goal so far this season for Leicester, who are 14th in the Championship before Wednesday's game at Bristol City.

Zambia open their Afcon campaign against Mali on 22 December before completing the group stage against Comoros (26 December) and hosts Morocco (29 December).

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester City boss Marti Cifuentes has emphasised the importance of putting together a good run of results after the impressive 3-1 win at Derby County.

The Foxes bounced back from two consecutive defeats with victory at Pride Park to start to ease the pressure on Cifuentes.

A congested Championship table means Leicester are currently 14th but only three points off the play-off places.

"I think it's important in this league to build some kind of momentum," Cifuentes told BBC Radio Leicester ahead of the trip to seventh-placed Bristol City on Wednesday night (kick-off 19:45 GMT).

"We know it's going to be a difficult game again because it's another game away against a team that has started the season really well.

"Again in a style that is much about a lot of pressing, a lot of counter-pressing. They are very clear on their identity.

"We know where we are, we know how much we want to improve but again, we need to keep building on what we saw [against Derby].

"A lot of things I really liked and then we go again, being humble but understanding that every game is so important."

Listen to all latest Leicester City interviews and shows on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Getty Images

The FA Cup third round draw was made on Monday evening, with all 24 Championship clubs entering at this stage of the competition.

Ties will take place between Thursday, 8 January and Monday, 12 January.

These are the ties involving Championship clubs:

• Cambridge United v Birmingham City

• Hull City v Blackburn Rovers

• Bristol City v Watford

• Charlton Athletic v Chelsea

• Stoke City v Coventry

• Derby County v Leeds United

• Ipswich Town v Blackpool

• Cheltenham Town v Leicester City

• Fulham v Middlesbrough

• Burnley v Millwall

• Norwich City v Walsall

• MK Dons v Oxford United

• Portsmouth v Arsenal

• Preston North End v Wigan Athletic

• West Ham United v Queens Park Rangers

• Sheffield United v Mansfield Town

• Sheffield Wednesday v Brentford

• Doncaster Rovers v Southampton

• Swansea City v West Bromwich Albion

• Wrexham v Nottingham Forest

You can see the full draw here.

Image source, Opta

There's a big game at Ashton Gate on Wednesday (19:45 GMT) as Leicester City head to Bristol City looking for back-to-back wins to climb towards the play-off places.

After a 3-1 win in the East Midlands derby at Derby on Saturday the Foxes lie 14th, but could overhaul the seventh-placed Robins with a win, so tightly-packed is the middle of the Championship table.

Inconsistent Bristol City went down 1-0 at home to Millwall on Saturday for a second defeat in three games and have now lost two of their past three at Ashton Gate without scoring.

• Bristol City have won three of their past four home league games against Leicester (L1), as many as they had in their previous 14 between 1921 and 2010 (D5 L6).

• Leicester have won three of their past four league games against Bristol City, though did lose their last meeting 1-0 at Ashton Gate in March 2024.

• Bristol City have lost their past two midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (v Blackburn and Wrexham), as many as they had in their previous 15 (W6 D7).

• Leicester are winless in their past eight midweek (Tues, Weds, Thurs) league games (D2 L6), alternating between a draw and a defeat in their four Championship games this season.

• Leicester manager Martí Cifuentes has never lost in four league meetings with Bristol City, though three of those have ended level (W1).

Leicester City boss Marti Cifuentes spoke to BBC Sport after Saturday's 3-1 win at Derby County.

"Pressure is part of the job, right? This is never about me, it's about the club, the fans and trying to do the best we can," he told BBC Sport.

"I said from day one, I was very honest, that this will be a rebuilding process, that it could take some time and the target is clear [promotion to the Premier League] because of the size of the club.

"It definitely has not been an easy week, or the last couple of weeks have not been easy, more because of the disappointment of the way we lost games and the way we performed.

"And it's not about me, I'm very aware of what my job is and what my task is and that is what I work for every day.

"The first half was very good, and perhaps we could have scored even more goals, and that's a lot to say after being 3-0 up at half-time against a good team.

"It's easy for me to sit here now after a win like this to say 'that's exactly what we want'. But football is a challenge every week and we will play every game against teams that are well coached, and well prepared and I understand that we always want to perform at this level."

Pride Park will want to see an emphatic win for their Derby County side when Leicester City come to visit on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

Though technically an East Midlands derby, the rivalry between the Rams and the Foxes has as much to do with history as it does location.

Over the past two decades, Derby have only managed three wins out of their last 17 meetings while Leicester have won nine of the past 11 - plus a First Division play-off win in 1994 that still carries a sting.

However, the visitors are struggling this season and it could be a good time for the hosts to claim their first victory over the Foxes since March 2013.

• Derby have lost seven of their last eight league games against Leicester (W1), with this the first between the sides since a 4-1 win for the Foxes in January 2014.

• This is Leicester's first away league game against Derby since a 1-0 win in August 2013. They've won three of their last four league visits to Pride Park (L1), keeping a clean sheet in each victory.

• Derby County have lost two of their last three league games (W1), as many as they had in their previous 13 (W6 D5).

• Leicester have lost five of their last eight Championship games (W2 D1), with only Swansea, Portsmouth and Sheffield Wednesday losing more than the Foxes since the first game in this run on 21st October (6 each).

• Derby have had fewer shots (155) and fewer shots on target (51) than any other Championship side this season, while also having the second lowest expected goals total (17.4). Despite this, only seven clubs have scored more goals than the Rams this term (25).