From Premier League champion to Championship? Leicester City is on the brink of relegation

CNN

Leicester City's Premier League victory in 2015/16 is one of the biggest sporting achievements ever.

The Foxes were 5000-1 outsiders at the beginning of the season. Their unlikely march to the championship won the hearts of soccer lovers around the globe.

Leicester is in grave danger of being relegated from the Championship to the second division of English football, only seven years after that fairytale victory.

Leicester has just one match left in the season and is currently in 18th position - the final and third relegation place - with 31 points. They are two points behind Everton, who is 17th, and safe.

Southampton, who are already relegated, is in 20th position, while Leeds United is 19th, both with 31 points. The battle to avoid the relegation is a tight race to the finish.

Matchday 38 is made even more interesting by the fact that all three teams are realistically capable of securing all three points.

Everton hosts Bournemouth at the King Power Stadium, Leeds hosts Tottenham in a desperate situation and Leicester welcomes West Ham.

Last Chance Saloon

The fall of a Leicester side that had won England's premier cup in 2021, and placed eighth last season has been dramatic.

In April, the former manager Brendan Rogers was fired. He had been with the club since 2019. Leicester tried to save its Premier League status in a desperate attempt by hiring Dean Smith.

Leicester's team this season has been less than its sum. A group of talented individuals who have so far failed in forming a cohesive unit.

If the club is relegated it's very likely that fans will witness a mass exodus. There will be no shortage of clubs interested in signing them.

The best of the lot is England's James Maddison, who will command a high transfer fee for any team that wants to sign him. However, he has just one year left on his contract. Harvey Barnes, Kelechi iheanacho, and Youri Tiilemans, whose contract expires in June, are unlikely to be playing in the Championship.

Leicester looks the best-positioned team to return immediately to the Premier League. It has some talented players, and it could have a massive transfer budget if its stars are sold.

Glum Goodison

Everton has, however, been on the decline for some time.

Frank Lampard, the manager at the time of the club's relegation from the Premier League last season, was tipped to galvanize and motivate the team.

A lack of direction by the ownership and some misguided investment in the team has led to a second consecutive relegation fight for a club that had never before in its history been relegated.

Since a few months, protests have been held against the board of the club before each match at Goodison Park.

Everton Chairman Bill Kenwright and Everton supporters appear to have a strained relationship. Fans have repeatedly called for change at the top of the board this season.

Farhad Moshiri, the majority shareholder of the club, has spent hundreds millions of pounds on his stake since 2016. However, this investment has not been a success.

Sean Dyche, a manager known for his pragmatic approach, was hired by the club to save them from relegation after Lampard's dismissal in January.

It's difficult to imagine Everton finding success in the near future, whether he succeeds or not.

Big Sam, to the rescue!

Leeds United, too, has struggled with finding its identity since the dismissal of Marcelo Bielsa by the club in February 2022.

The Argentine was a popular figure in the city when he led the team to the Premier League for the first 16 years in 2020, using his high-tempo football style.

The club decided to part ways with Bielsa after the team struggled during its second season of being back in the top division. They replaced him with Jesse Marsch who managed to keep the team in the top division despite the fact that they started the last day of the previous season in the relegation area.

The results didn't improve this season under Marsch as the team's frail defense couldn't find a solution to stop conceding. Leeds has the league's worst defensive record, conceding an astonishing 74 goals in just 37 matches. In February, the American was fired, less than one year after he took over.

Javi Gracia, who replaced Marsch as Leeds' manager, lasted only 12 games before the club made a desperate last-minute move to preserve its Premier League status. They hired Sam Allardyce just four games into the season.

Allardyce's football style is very different from Bielsa.

There's no doubt that Allardyce will only be in place until the end the season. But whether Leeds is promoted or relegated, the team needs a reset so they can determine their direction for next year.