Leicester City head to Manchester City in the Premier League on Wednesday night knowing their survival hopes are dead and buried.
Leicester are relying on their form turning around and Wolves slipping up, but neither of those two variables are happening, with Championship football looking nailed on.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 17 |  WolvesWolves | 30 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 41 | 58 | -17 | 29 |
| 18 |  IpswichIpswich | 29 | 3 | 8 | 18 | 28 | 62 | -34 | 17 |
| 19 |  LeicesterLeicester | 29 | 4 | 5 | 20 | 25 | 65 | -40 | 17 |
| 20 |  SouthamptonSouthampton | 29 | 2 | 3 | 24 | 21 | 70 | -49 | 9 |
Wolves secured a 1-0 victory over West Ham on Tuesday night to move 12 points clear of the Foxes and hand Ruud van Nistelrooy an impossible mountain to climb.
Confidence couldn’t be any lower when Leicester travel to the Etihad Stadium but at least Ricardo Pereira is expected to be available.
The Portuguese defender suffered a minor setback after making his injury return, though the 31-year-old could now start against Manchester City alongside another change from the loss to Manchester United.
Ruud van Nistelrooy can shock fans at 7pm by starting Stephy Mavididi vs Man City
Leicester were beaten 3-0 by Manchester United before the international break. Unsurprisingly, City hardly laid a glove on Ruben Amorim’s men.
It saw Leicester set an unwanted Premier League record, becoming the first team in the history of the competition to lose seven matches in a row without scoring.
Van Nistelrooy started with an attacking trio of Bilal El Khannouss, Patson Daka and Jamie Vardy against the Red Devils, yet neither of those three posed a threat to the defence.
The Dutchman needs to freshen up his forward line and the prime candidate to come into the starting lineup is Stephy Mavididi, as the Frenchman is always lively from the bench.
Mavididi was dubbed ‘unplayable’ last season as Leicester won the Championship title and he played a huge part.
The 26-year-old has since struggled to reach the same levels, and unfortunately, he doesn’t possess enough consistent quality to be a solid Premier League player.
However, his pace and directness can be a handy weapon for Van Nistelrooy on the counter-attack, with Mavididi perhaps replacing the underperforming Daka.
Van Nistelrooy should either start Mavididi or the youth
Leicester are in a position where they can afford to take risks. Championship football is looming and they may as well bow out by using players who will be integral next term.
That is why Mavididi deserves to start against Man City, but Van Nistelrooy could also make Jeremy Monga’s dream come true and throw him into the deep end.
Monga is wanted by Man City after the 15-year-old burst onto the scene for Leicester’s under-21s and dominated players years older than him.
A pathway to first-team football this term could be how they persuade the lightning-quick winger to stay, and that has to be something Van Nistelrooy considers in this game or another one this term.