Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Leicester’s search for a first away win of the season continues this afternoon as they travel to the Bet 365 Stadium to face Stoke. Claudio Ranieri’s men may be having when travelling across Europe but it’s these domestic weekend breaks that don’t seem to be as fun for the Premier League Champions and they will hope that their unwanted run of away day results comes to an end later today.
It wasn’t a particularly enjoyable trip to the South Coast on Wednesday as Leicester were beaten 1-0 by Bournemouth, Marc Pugh’s first half strike was enough to consign The Foxes to another away defeat and once the gameweek was complete it has left them in 14th place in the Premier League table and four points clear of the drop zone.
That four point buffer means they aren’t looking over their shoulders just yet but the failure to win away from home means that it’s stifling any real hopes of at least getting back into the Top 10. The fact that their home form is decent enough is just keeping them afloat but with no Champions League football until February then it’s not as if they have any excuses as to why they can’t seem to pick up a win on the road.
Stoke will provide the opposition this afternoon and they come into this game off the back of a 0-0 draw at home to Southampton. They had to play the majority of the game with 10 men after Marko Arnautovic’s reckless tackle on Sofiane Boufel. In the end it was a hard earned point and one that sees them sit 12th in the table.
Had they been against a side that is a bit more clinical infront of goal then the fact that they were a man light could have caused more of an issues but the result was once again testament to the improvements that Stoke have made at the back after such a poor start and the permanent signature of Lee Grant now surely has to be the number one priority next month when the transfer window reopens.
Stoke’s season has almost been night and day since Grant joined the club on loan from Derby County and for every impressive performance the 33 year old makes it must be adding more and more to his asking price. But whatever Derby ask for him you would have to imagine it would be a price worth paying.
Today he is tasked with keeping out the likes of Jamie Vardy and Islam Slimani out but with Leicester blowing so cold away from their own fortress it might not be the toughest task that he faces all season. I reckon though the unfortunate run is going to continue for Leicester as I can only see this one ending in a draw. A share of the points for me.
