Still seeking a first victory of the new Premier League season, following their capitulation at home to Southampton on Saturday, Leicester City’s sluggish start is drawing intense scrutiny given recent events in the transfer market.
With the futures of stars such as James Maddison, Youri Tielemans and Chelsea target Wesley Fofana all sources of concern until the window finally slides shut, the Foxes have been unable to produce a convincing display to date.
Brendan Rodgers may have steered his side to victory in each of their final three pre-season friendlies, but since competitive action kicked off this month, they have only one point from a home game against Brentford to show for their troubles.
The Foxes threw away the chance to improve on that tally by letting a one-goal lead slip at the weekend, as Maddison’s opener was ultimately rendered meaningless by a second-half Che Adams double for their South Coast visitors.
Now, Leicester must dust themselves off and return to cup competition, in which they have enjoyed themselves during recent times: a couple of runs in Europe were topped by their FA Cup win, but that now seems so very long ago.
While Leicester have been soaking up the spotlight over the past few years, former second-tier rivals Stockport County have been in the doldrums for most of that period.
However, as last term’s National League champions, the Hatters started the 2022-23 campaign with momentum on their side, after finally ending an 11-year absence from league football.
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Dave Challinor’s side have struggled to convert that currency into points during the opening weeks of the season, and after slumping to a three-goal deficit in their opening fixture at home to Barrow – before going on to lose 3-2 – they have lost a further three times and won just once.
While life in League Two has proved challenging so far, County celebrated re-entry into the EFL Cup with a 1-0 win at Harrogate Town earlier this month, and will now hope to spring a major upset and embark on a money-spinning cup run.
Many years have passed since the 1996-97 season, which saw Stockport finish runners-up in the Second Division and reach the League Cup semis after eliminating three Premiership clubs, and despite Leicester’s current woes their chance of repeating such feats remains slim
