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Bristol City fans were singing “Jamie Vardy, your wife is a grass”
He scores a penalty, runs to the other side of the pitch and celebrates in front of them 🤣🤣
pic.twitter.com/5w7T0HkjNt
— Second Tier podcast (@secondtierpod) September 23, 2023
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This is, of course, the first time in 13 years Leicester have started a season without James Vardy. His goals will, of course, be missed, but so too will his attitude and presence. What a signing he was, one of the best of all time, any club. Who’ll take over his mantle when it comes to rustling opposition supporters?
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Henrik Pederson, the new Wednesday manager, says he has every faith in his players to do their job despite all that’s going on. He knows he has a small senior squad and his bench lacks depth, but the players he has are high quality and the young lads are hungry. Good luck, old mate – I fear you may need it.
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Where is the game? Wednesday will, I imagine, sit deep and target the centre of Leicester’s defence, which looks a little soft – though the full-backs will need to supply width.
Leicester, meanwhile, will look to dominate, Soumare and Skipp looking to feed the three in front as soon as possible, with Ayew both dropping off and running channels. The Wednesday back five will, no doubt, look to crowd them out.
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Some thoughts on the regulator from someone who should know:
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It’s worth remembering that the threat of a points deduction still hangs over Leicester.
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Aas for Wednesday, their best players have left. They’ll look to absorb pressure and counter at pace with two strikers, in Jamal Lowe and Bailey Cadamerteri, good enough to give Leicester’s centre-backs grief. Getting them the ball, though, might a tricky.
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Back to the teams, Leicester’s looks pretty strong. At full-back, James Justin and Luke Thomas are good players; in midfield, Oliver Skipp is solid and Boubacar Soumaré is a much better player than he’s shown during his time in England; and behind Jordan Ayew, Fatawu, El Khannouss and Mavididi are a very serious trident – on form, perhaps the best in the league. If they hit a groove, Leicester will be vey difficult to stop.
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Signs you watch too much football, part 690,492: I just identified Marc Albrighton from his voice. Feel free to send in examples of your own.
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Barry Bannan – Wednesday captain, football’s foremost baldness denier, and all-round top bloke – speaks to Sky. He says it’s been a testing time for everyone at the club, but they’ve stuck together and come through. Today’s a big day and they’re all looking forward.
“Where are the players in that dressing room?” asks the next question, inadvertently answering itself, and Bannan adds that he’s proud of the way the squad have responded. He knows the fans in a sold-out away end will come in late as protest, but once they do, they’ll be behind the team.
There’s a lot of experience in the squad, though they’ll be underdogs all season, and he’s looking forward to the challenge.
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I’ll write these down and, in the meantime, here’s some reading on Wednesday.
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Let’s have some teams…
Leicester City (4-2-3-1): Stolarczyk; Justin, Okoli, Vestergaard, Thomas; Skipp, Soumaré; Fatawu, El Khannouss, Mavididi; Ayew. Subs: Begovic, Faes, Nelson, Winks, Choudhury, Page, McAteer, Monga, Daka.
Sheffield Wednesday (5-3-2): Charles; Valery, Palmer, Iorfa, Otegbayo; Lowe M; Chalobah, Ingelsson, Bannan; Lowe J, Cadamarteri. Subs: Stretch, Johnson, Siqueira, Fusire, Shipston, Fernandes, Kobacki, McNeill, Ugbo.
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Updated at 15.51 BST
First things first: it’s been a terrific start at Wembley. Join Rob Smyth to follow along.
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Preamble
When Leicester began their last Championship season, just over two years ago, it felt almost impossible they’d fail to secure promotion, most likely having taken the title. They had a new manager, Enzo Maresca, with decent pedigree, and a raft of players who were simply too good for the competition.
Shonuff, they won the league. But at the start of last term, it felt almost impossible that they’d fail to secure relegation, Maresca having left and the squad not good enough for the top tier; such is modern football.
Shnouff, they were relegated, 13 points and goal difference shy of safety, so now the process begins again. And, though it is no longer obvious that their squad is the best in the division, Abdul Fatawu, Stephy Mavididi and Bilal El Khannouss will be a handful for any defence they face, while Jeremy Monga, still only 16, showed plenty of potential in the Premier League. They are only fourth favourites for promotion, but Marti Cifuentes looks another smart managerial appointment, and if he can get things going, they have the players to contest promotion once more.
Sheffield Wednesday, on the other hand, are a shameful, shambolic state of affairs: once again, a proud club has, with the authorities watching, been vandalised by an inappropriate owner. Consequently, Danny Röhl, a promising young manager, has left; so too have Josh Windass, Djeidi Gassma and Michael Smith; and as such, struggle looks inevitable and relegation a near-certainty.
Thing is, the fans will barely care. Not because they’re no longer interested in their beloved club, rather the battle now is not for points, but for survival. Real talk, the amount of money there is in the game means every member of the 92 should be safe in perpetuity – all the more so given the governmental oversight the game ought to have had for decades is imminent. In the meantime, though, Owls’ fans are furious and desperate, rightly so, and nothing, not even a win today, will change that.
Kick-off: 4.30pm BST
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