There was no Leicester City defeat to ruin the weekend with the international fixtures handing Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side a break from their seven-match loss streak.
The two-and-a-half-week gap between the matches against Manchester United and Manchester City gives the Leicester players a chance for a “reset”, van Nistelrooy has said.
It’s the same for supporters too, who were able to focus on other matters beside the increasing fear of relegation. Here’s a look at some of the big topics around the King Power Stadium right now.
Plane banner reaches funding target
Fans’ frustration with the running of the club is set to see a banner fly over the King Power Stadium next month.
Supporters raised £1,150 in just a few days to organise for a plane to pass over the club’s home ground during their fixture with title favourites Liverpool on Sunday, April 20.
The debate now is what the banner will say. The plan had been for it to read ‘King Power out’ but that message is not supported by all those who have helped with the crowdfunding, and so a banner starting with ‘King Power clueless’ now appears to be more likely.
The plane will be the latest show of discontent from supporters, with a few hundred marching in protest ahead of the game with Arsenal last month, and with a banner held up inside the ground, reading: “Internal review? You don’t have a clue”.
Chants during the campaign have especially targeted director of football Jon Rudkin, but there have also been calls from the stands for the board to be sacked.
Daka out of Zambia duty on City request
When Patson Daka is missing from the Zambia squad, it’s almost always because of injury. As one of their star players, he is not going to be dropped for his form, no matter how little he is playing at City.
When he wasn’t named in the Zambia squad for a friendly with Russia, it seemed to suggest he may have picked up a knock, which would have been unfortunate timing for van Nistelrooy, who has started him the past two games.
However, there is no injury. Instead, the Zambian FA have said that Daka was omitted on City’s request as he needed to renew his work permit and ensure he could continue playing for the remainder of the season.
A statement issued by the Zambian FA’s secretary general Reuben Kamanga read: “Regarding Patson Daka, his club has asked for his excuse during the international break to facilitate the renewal of his work permit.
“His current permit has expired, and the club needs his presence to complete the process with government authorities. The international break was the only time they could handle the paperwork.”
Page heading to the World Cup
Young City midfielder Louis Page has a European Championship and a World Cup to look forward to this year after a pair of victories at St George’s Park.
Page played 90 minutes and set up the winner for Alejandro Rodriguez as England Under-17s beat Slovenia 3-2 on Saturday.
Coupled with their 2-0 win over Israel last week, where Page came on as a second-half substitute, England top the group with six points with one match, against Northern Ireland, to spare.
While Israel can match their tally, head-to-head record is a decider, and not goal difference, and so it means England are already qualified for the European Championship in Albania in May and the World Cup in Qatar in November.
Box-to-box midfielder Page has been a regular in the group and is likely to be involved when in both squads.
That’s especially if he keeps up his form for City’s Under-21s. Despite being just 16 years of age, Page has started eight of the club’s last 12 Premier League 2 fixtures.
Who has impressed recently
Page is not the only name to keep an eye on in City’s academy, which looks to be producing potential top-level players at a consistent rate at the moment.
Another name to keep an eye on is Lorenz Hutchinson. The striker has been in terrific recent form for the Under-18s, with eight goals in his last seven games.
He’s not yet had a chance in the Under-21s, but if he keeps scoring at the rate he is, a step up feels inevitable.
Moment missed
It’s been 25 games since City kept a clean sheet, a run that goes back nearly six months to early October. Wout Faes has been in the back-line for 21 of those matches.
But he does now know what it feels like to stop the opposition scoring. The centre-back played 90 minutes as Belgium scored three goals in the final 20 minutes to beat Ukraine 3-0 on Sunday night and claim an aggregate 4-3 win that sees them avoid relegation in the Uefa Nations League.
It’s a big boost for Faes’ international hopes under new Belgium manager Rudi Garcia, especially as he played no part in the 3-1 to Ukraine in the first leg.
Player with a point to prove
Also keeping a clean sheet during the international break was Jannik Vestergaard, who was lauded for his performance as Denmark beat Portugal 1-0 last week.
Unfortunately, Vestergaard was part of a defence that conceded five over 120 minutes on Sunday evening as the Danes lost the second leg and were knocked out of the Nations League.
After two games failing to make the City bench, Vestergaard perhaps had a point to prove. He may have felt he did that with his international break displays.
It will be interesting to see if van Nistelrooy makes any changes next week. He’s been broadly happy with how his team has defended in their new set-up, even if they did concede three to United.
Next up
When you’re nine points adrift of safety with nine games to go, a game away to the reigning champions is not ideal, even if they aren’t quite hitting the heights they used to.
In fact, City could be 12 points back from Wolves by the time they head to Manchester City next Wednesday. Their relegation rivals host West Ham on Tuesday.
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