An international break is typically useful at this stage of the campaign. But for Leicester City, a break in league action is just delaying the inevitable.
Leicester City are almost guaranteed to be playing Championship football next season. An embarrassing run of 13 losses in 14 matches has plummeted the Foxes into the bottom three, with nine points separating them from 17th place Wolves.
It would take an even bigger miracle than Leicester winning the Premier League in 2016 for Ruud van Nistelrooy to save City, and that speaks volumes at how awful they’ve been.
Remarkably, despite most of their players suffering from a lack of form, many Leicester stars have been called up by their nations.
Denmark’s Jannik Vestergaard was a ‘colossus’ in a 1-0 win over Portugal on Thursday night, and he isn’t the only one who has impressed.
Bilal El Khannouss scored the winner for Morocco against Niger
From the disastrous summer transfer window in 2024, the £21 million signing of Bilal El Khannouss is the only acquisition that has been worth its weight in gold.
The Moroccan playmaker has been a rare shining light in a dismal campaign for the Foxes, seeing his talents flourish as a number 10.
El Khannouss could play at a team like Arsenal, according to his former coach at Genk Michel Ribeiro, and it’s hard to argue against that.
The 20-year-old is an incredibly intelligent footballer, coupling his excellent ball retention and movement with relentless work rate.
He’s now even becoming a prominent figure for his nation and in a World Cup Qualifier against Niger on Thursday night, he popped up with a 91st minute winner.
El Khannouss cashed in at the back post with a header, his first headed goal of the campaign, to ensure Morocco preserved their 100% record in the group stage with four wins from four.
The Leicester playmaker isn’t known for scoring goals with his head, as he normally produces magic with the ball at his feet, so it would have been a pleasant surprise.
El Khannouss will surely leave Leicester in the summer
It could be end of the road for Leicester in the Premier League come May but for El Khannouss, the journey is only just beginning.
His performances this term point towards clubs showing an interest in the fleet-footed attacker, with Pep Guardiola previously praising El Khannouss.
The former Genk attacking midfielder is just simply too good to be playing Championship football next term, and alongside the likes of Mads Hermansen and Wilfred Ndidi, he’s surely going to be waving goodbye to the King Power Stadium.