Leicester City need a miracle to avoid relegation from the Premier League this term heading into the final nine matches.
The Foxes are nine points adrift of 17th-place Wolves, who have secured a point against Everton and a win over Southampton to move clear of the bottom three.
Leicester entered the international break on an abysmal run of 13 losses in 14 matches, and that promises to get even worse when they head to Manchester City next week.
There have been calls for Ruud van Nistelrooy to be sacked, although Leicester can’t afford to dismiss the Dutchman after letting go of Steve Cooper in November.
As much as Van Nistelrooy has been a poor appointment, he hasn’t been dealt the greatest hand and the January transfer window demonstrated that.
Photo by Jack Thomas - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
Photo by Jack Thomas – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images
Leicester should have signed Emmanuel Agbadou in January
Van Nistelrooy wanted four new players in the window but instead, Leicester’s only signing was a £3 million outlay for right-back Woyo Coulibaly.
It was pretty clear that the Foxes needed a centre-back as the likes of Wout Faes and Jannik Vestergaard are no longer good enough.
However, instead of being proactive, City allowed their relegation rivals to strengthen as Wolves made the outstanding capture of Emmanuel Agbadou from Stade Reims.
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Wolves paid around £16.6 million for the Ivorian, and that perhaps is a fee Leicester couldn’t afford to sanction, but the physical powerhouse has made a huge difference to their back line.
Emmanuel Agbadou’s stats for Wolves
7 matches played
2.1 tackles per game
5.9 balls recovered per game
6.1 clearances per game
1 interception per game
5.1 duels won per game (67%)
The 27-year-old has slotted perfectly into Vitor Pereira’s defence, with his calming influence and defensive attributes helping pull Wolves clear of danger.
Wolves results compared to Leicester since Agbadou signed
This season, the likes of Faes and Vestergaard have been woeful while Conor Coady and Caleb Okoli have hardly covered themselves in glory.
Okoli is the most athletic among those names but he’s hardly a physical specimen unlike Agbadou, whose pace and strength are two attributes that Leicester lack in defence.
Agbadou, who has been dubbed ‘exceptional’, has helped shore up one of the worst defences in the league and their Premier League results since he signed show how much he’s impacted them positively.
Leicester results since Agbadou signed Wolves results since Agbadou signed
Leicester 0-2 Crystal Palace (L) Newcastle 3-0 Wolves (L)
Leicester 0-2 Fulham (L) Chelsea 3-1 Wolves (L)
Tottenham 1-2 Leicester (W) Wolves 0-1 Arsenal (L)
Everton 4-0 Leicester (L) Wolves 2-0 Aston Villa (W)
Leicester 0-2 Arsenal (L) Liverpool 2-1 Wolves (L)
Leicester 0-4 Brentford (L) Bournemouth 0-1 Wolves (W)
West Ham 2-0 Leicester (L) Wolves 1-2 Fulham (L)
Chelsea 1-0 Leicester (L) Wolves 1-1 Everton (D)
Leicester 0-3 Man Utd (L) Southampton 1-2 Wolves (W)
Wolves have taken 10 points since Agbadou signed while Leicester have earned just three and failed to score in their previous seven matches.
Admittedly, the Ivorian couldn’t have saved Van Nistelrooy’s men single-handedly but he would have made a huge difference to their chances of survival.