Ricardo Pereira back in the team. That was great news. Choudhury on the bench. Winks still absent. This looked a well balanced set up and Marti got rewarded for picking the correct structure and set up.
Leicester were aggressive and on the front foot. Jordan James in his natural role behind Bobby De Cordova-Reid. Oliver Skipp doing the defensive role alongside Jordan James. It looks well balanced and controlled.
Bobby De Cordova-Reid is quality at this level. His football brain and understanding is fantastic and he is a player who also can score from distance. His well placed shot after 8 minutes, did see Leicester take an early and very important lead.
Ipswich tried to push for a goal, but Leicester looked composed and well organized. Jordan James worked endlessly. Oliver Skipp also put in a lot of effort. They didn’t really get too much out of it, but they kept it clean.
Then towards the end of first half, Abdul Fatawu showed how he can turn things around in seconds. His blistering shot from his own half, was just a fabalous and fantastic achievement. This is exactly what Leicester need. That little extra helps in turning things around when the opponent is dominant on the ball.
Leicester were again in a 2-0 lead at half time. It all looked controlled and with no real treath from Ipswich. Just doing the same second half would be the way to handle the second half.
A big win 🤩#LEIIPS | @BCGame pic.twitter.com/zi4JyqvyMf
— Leicester City (@LCFC) December 13, 2025
Leicester did excactly that, doing the same when starting second half. Leicester put on a good display. Jordan Ayew effectively killed the game with his goal in the 52nd minute. Leicester were 3-0 up and everything looked calm and controlled.
A change is done in the 65th minute. Marti Cifuentes decides to take off Bobby De Cordova-Reid and replace him with Hamza Choudhury. He also decides to change the structure. Pushing Jordan James up and in the role of De Cordova-Reid. A cardinal error by the Leicester manager. You should know when doing that, you will give Ipswich the advantage. The Leicester team will be drawn 10 to 20 meters lower in the field. Hamza Choudhury is a defensive midfielder without the movement of Jordan James. Taking James out of that engine room is a major fault. This is not acceptable for a Championship manager. It’s a massive blunder.
The total Leicester set up is gone, and Ipswich are allowed to get closer to a chance to score. With that move the uncertainty and troublesome situations appear. Suddenly Leicester looks like a relegation battler instead of the total opposite.
Five minutes after this major and utterly strange move, Ipswich scores. Jacub Stolarczyk creates a black hole moment. He plays a short pass into the feet of Jens Cajuste. He can just shoot the ball in the net from close range. A massive blunder by Stolarczyk. This is not acceptable at professional level of football.
Leicester manager Marti Cifuentes makes a few more changes, giving minutes to Patson Daka, Silko Thomas and Louis Page. They are good runners and helps the team to accomplish what is needed to stop Ipswich from scoring more goals. The first hour of this game looked fantastic. The last 30 minutes reverted to old bad habits and managerial errors. However, great credit goes to the subs. They ran and fought towards the end. They were important in securing 3 points against a difficult opponent.
Leicester are in an 8 position, three points from play-off. They are 11 points away from a straight promotion place, which looks far from possible at this point. Leicester needs a long strike of games to get into some sort of momentum.
- Positives
- Brilliant start to the game, 2-0 lead after first half
- Oliver Skipp and Jordan James looks to have find a great blend in the engine room
- Individual skills from De Cordova-Reid and Abdul Fatawu wins the game for Leicester
- Luke Thomas with his best performance for Leicester in a long long time
- Scoring the third early on second half making it a fantastic result for Leicester
- Solid back four that looks a settled unit, please not disturb this anymore
- Negatives
- Marti Cifuentes upsetting the structure with his first substitution, moving Jordan James out of the engine room, as the team totally lose momentum
- Jacub Stolarczyk making an individual error not acceptable for a goalkeeper at this level
Line Up:
Stolarczyk 5, Pereira 7, Thomas 8, Vestergaard 8, Nelson 7, Skipp 8, James 8, Reid 7, Ayew 7, Mavididi 6, Fatawu 8, Subs: Thomas S, Choudhury, Daka, Page
- Leicester City, Man of the Match
- Jordan James
Match Stats (H/A)
- Possession: 42 / 58
- Shots on Target: 4 / 2
- Corners: 6 / 5
- Fouls: 9 / 9
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