Leicester City are one of the favourites to be relegated back to the Championship at the end of the season. The Foxes have just 17 points after 26 games.
Five points from safety and with just 12 games left before the end of the campaign, Leicester know time is against them.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 17 |  WolvesWolves | 27 | 6 | 4 | 17 | 37 | 56 | -19 | 22 |
| 18 |  IpswichIpswich | 26 | 3 | 8 | 15 | 24 | 54 | -30 | 17 |
| 19 |  LeicesterLeicester | 26 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 25 | 59 | -34 | 17 |
| 20 |  SouthamptonSouthampton | 27 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 19 | 65 | -46 | 9 |
Although Wolves’ defeat against Fulham on Tuesday has offered a glimmer of hope, Ruud van Nistelrooy’s job is incredibly hard and getting harder as the fixtures continue to come thick and fast.
The club’s decline isn’t entirely down to the Dutchman, though. The size of the challenge is huge, and Gary Lineker has questioned whether the Leicester City owners were right to appoint him when they did.
Gary Lineker adamant Leicester City wrong to sack Steve Cooper
Starting the season with Steve Cooper in the King Power dugout, Leicester City were hopeful they could at least retain their top-flight status.
Performances didn’t quite go their way and sparked Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha to make the early decision to sack the former Nottingham Forest boss and name Van Nistelrooy as his successor. Lineker thinks this was a huge mistake though, and the rest of ‘The Rest is Football’ podcast’s team agree.
“I think even at the same time, we said it was premature and harsh, and so it’s proved to be because Leicester weren’t in the relegation zone when Cooper was in charge. Leicester were scoring in nearly every game they played when Cooper was in charge — had similar problems defensively at times, but it’s been a struggle ever since,” the former striker said.
Alan Shearer added: “Even for Ruud for take [the job], we thought it was a huge gamble for him to go and take that job just because of the instability of the football club.”
Micah Richards agreed: “I think I would’ve stuck with him because they were playing some decent stuff at the time, weren’t they? Okay, they were conceding but they were getting the results.”
Impossible to argue
Cooper was sacked by Leicester City after just five months in charge following a 2-1 home defeat against Chelsea.
At the time, the Foxes were 16th in the table, one point clear of the drop. They’d taken points in six of their 12 matches before Cooper was dismissed.
However, since Van Nistelrooy’s arrival, Leicester City have broken an unwanted Premier League record during their abysmal run, which has even included Everton scoring their fastest-ever league goal.
While Cooper’s premature sacking can’t be dwelled on for too long, fans’ discontent at some of the hierarchy’s decision-making is better justified with each passing week.