Leicester and the League Cup

It’s now more than ten years since Martin O’Neil’s Leicester side lifted the League Cup. Since then City’s record in the competition has seen few shocks, but a few memorable cup nights.

Macclesfield fans looking for evidence of a surprise this evening need to go back to 1st November 2000 to find the last time Leicester lost a League Cup match to a side from a lower division. That night Peter Taylor’s City were dumped out of the competition in the 3rd Round by Crystal Palace, a side who on the night sat 23rd in what was then Division One. Following that shock City have faced 10 clubs from a lower division in the League Cup and progressed in every single tie.

Perhaps surprisingly tonight’s League Cup home tie will only be Leicester’s 9th in 11 seasons. The Foxes have won four and lost four League Cup ties on home soil in that time. On the road City have played 16 games, winning 10.

Since winning the competition the furthest Leicester have progressed is the last 16. City fans hoping for a cup run will not be surprised at the Foxes one win in six against teams from a higher division. Matty Fryatt’s winner at Aston Villa in 2007 was the only occasion since 2000 that City have shocked Premier League opposition

This is not to say Leicester’s League Cup exploits have not been entertaining. Narrow defeats at Fulham and Chelsea and an extra-time exit at the hands of Aston Villa in particular have been standout moments from the last 10 years. These high-scoring encounters (3-2, 4-3 and 2-3 respectively) have in part contributed to an impressive average of 3.04 goals per City League Cup match.

What has been of more concern for the competition as a whole is the lacklustre attendances in the early rounds. Sadly City’s record here mirrors that of the nation. 7,386 watched City’s last 1st Round League Cup tie at home to Stockport in 2008. The last time Macclesfield visited the Walkers Stadium in the 1st Round of the 2006/07 season just 6,298 showed up. A 2nd Round home tie with Blackpool attracted 7,386 in 2005 and at the same stage in 2004 the 3-2 extra-time defeat to Preston was watched by 6,751.

It wasn’t always like this. The 2nd Round second leg game against Crystal Palace in 1999 attracted 12,762 and in the next round 13,701 saw the Foxes beat Grimsby 2-0. A year earlier 13,480 watched the 2nd Round first leg match with Chesterfield. It’s hard not to think that £12 ticket prices for games which used to be included in the season ticket is part of the reason for the declining crowds. Perhaps the club takes in more ticket revenue this way, but I wonder if City would have done better in League Cup ties at home if the players had been backed by a decent crowd.

Match Review: Stockport County

3 games, 3 goals, 3 clean sheets, 3rd place, how efficient. Post-match Pearson talked up the positives and City can certainly have a right to be pleased with their start.

Here are some numbers to mull over...

1 – The number of times Matty Fryatt has scored in consecutive starts for Leicester, today was his 90th appearance in a Leicester shirt. Steve Howard has yet to score in consecutive matches for the club. Perhaps in hindsight the goalless draw at 17/2 would have been a good bet.

2 – The number of games involving Stockport that finished 0-0 last season. Leicester were involved in seven scoreless encounters in 2008/09. They failed to score in 19 league games, that’s 41.3% of their matches.

4 – The number of teams in the Football League who have yet to concede a goal. Leicester are joined in this list by Reading, Watford and Shrewsbury. The Foxes already have the best defence in League One.

17 – The number of clean sheets Leicester managed in 2007/08. With two already in the bag it looks as if reaching the 20+ mark would not be an unreasonable target for City.

Statistic of the day goes to BBC Radio Leicester’s Ian Stringer: Leicester have never won on the 16th August. Remarkable.

Match Preview: Stockport County

Quirks in the fixture calendar like this aren’t enough to force an urge to find out when the last occurrence like it involving City took place. It’s doubtful anything will top Arsenal and Liverpool facing each other three times in a week anyway. The Foxes are looking for back-to-back league wins and their third win on the spin. Lets look at the numbers...

Past Meetings
City’s last trip to Edgeley Park was back in 1924 when, for what it’s worth, Leicester took the points in a 2-0 win. Stockport’s last victory over Leicester at home came earlier in the same year; it was a 3-1 victory in the old Division Two.

City only looked comfortable after Stockport were reduced to 10 men on Tuesday night, but further changes are expected to the line-up so it would be unwise to read too much into the game.

Reasons To Be Confident
In modern times this is something of a roll for Leicester, two wins coupled with two clean sheets. Pearson will be hoping to build on last weeks win and keep City’s 100% record. As previously noted, City need at least seven points from their opening four fixtures to get over 50% of points available. Click here to find out why that’s so important.

Leicester’s away form was nowhere near as bad as their home record last season. City’s haul of 24 points away from the Walkers last year was the 13th best record in the Championship. By comparison the Foxes had the 23rd best (or perhaps more accurately, 2nd worst) home record last term.

Steve Howard and Matty Fryatt scored in the same week and the world didn’t end. Perhaps anything is possible in League One.

Reasons To Be Worried
Nobody beat Stockport 1-0 last season. In fact, Stockport only failed to score on four occasions. They may have lost their three top scorers from 2007/08, but County under Jim Gannon clearly feel attack is the best form of defence. City’s back line will need to be on guard.

The last time Leicester won three consecutive games was in February 2007. City won 2-0 at Ipswich, 3-0 at home to Coventry and 1-0 at Burnley to give Rob Kelly some breathing space at the beginning of the Mandarić era. It was part of a sequence that saw Leicester go six games unbeaten - dizzy heights indeed.

The bookmakers have Leicester down as favourites for the game. This is uncharted territory. Leicester were not favourites for a single away game last season. Their record as favourites was hardly stellar in 2007/08. City won 6, drew 7 and lost 8 when the bookies had them down for a victory. A wise man would keep that loose fiver in thier back pocket this weekend, but if you must have a flutter...

Selected Odds
Stockport – 21/10 (Bet365)
Draw – 23/10 (Bet365)
Leicester – 13/10 (Bet365)

Match Review: Stockport County (League Cup First Round)

A phrase City fans haven’t been able to utter for 15 months can now banded about without the necessity of touching wood, crossing fingers or any other number of jinx averting techniques, “consecutive wins”. Well done lads, it only took 15 months!

Here’s some numbers from last night’s game.

150 – The number of days since Steve Howard’s last competitive goal in a Leicester shirt. Howard’s barren spell began after his hat-trick at West Brom. Howard got as many yellow cards as goals last season.

66% - City’s record against 10 men last season. The Foxes managed to beat West Brom and Norwich after players were dismissed but failed to make their numerical advatage count against Watford at Vicarage Road. City were reduced to 10 on four occasions last season, taking just 1 point from those games in a goalless draw at Scunthorpe.

7,386 – Last night’s attendance may seem small, but it’s actually more than City got for some other early League Cup fixtures at the Walkers. Just 6,751 saw City dumped out in the 2nd Round 3-2 after extra-time against Preston in 2004/05. Coincidentally, last night’s turnout is exactly the same as the attendance for the 2nd Round tie against Blackpool in 2005/06. A brace for Mark de Vries was enough for Leicester that night as City won 2-1.