When Leicester City’s relegation fate was sealed last season, it was significant for Nigerian soccer as well as English soccer. Both Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi are regulars of the Nigerian national team, but they’re also irreplaceable talents for the Foxes.
Leicester’s drop-down to the Championship has massively harmed the club. However, this pressure has also affected Iheanacho and Ndidi as they’ve had to prepare for the 2024 African Cup of Nations by facing inferior opposition in the Championship, as opposed to the top-flight quality among teams in the Premier League.
???????? pic.twitter.com/v1yaHY2fpQ
— Kelechi Iheanacho (@67Kelechi) January 20, 2022
Ultimately, though, Iheanacho and Ndidi may go down in history for their club, as they could help Leicester break records in the English second tier.
Leicester’s title victory should be a formality
Leicester’s return to the Premier League should be relatively straightforward following their immense start to the season. They recorded 49 points from the opening 20 fixtures in the Championship.
With strong Nigerian representation, it’s perhaps no surprise that Leicester is strongly backed by betting markets outside of the UK. The Foxes are now clear title favorites according to many Nigerian bookmakers featured on directories such as bettors.ng. For example, Bet9ja offers Leicester at a price of -185 to win the Championship this season and undoubtedly, fans within the region will be taking advantage of the Bet9ja rewards program as they place their wagers on the current soccer campaign.
When it comes down to it, Leicester’s triumph should ultimately be a formality this season. Whenever they drop points in the Championship it comes as a huge shock to the rest of the league. The door is now firmly open for the Foxes to only make an immediate top-flight return, but to break many records in the process.
Points record
The all-time Championship points record was set in the 2005/06 season by Reading who recorded 106 points. Leicester’s Nigerian duo are well on course to helping their team exceed that remarkable figure.
Over the opening 20-game stretch, Leicester averaged 2.45 points from each Championship fixture. If they maintained that pace throughout the 46 matchdays, they would end the season on a record-shattering 112 points.
However, Leicester will have to try to maintain that pace in the absence of Iheanacho and Ndidi when they play at AFCON in January and February.
The two significant Super Eagles stars may not be Premier League players for the time being, however, they could earn the status of being part of the greatest second-division team ever.
Fewest goals conceded record
Another record that Leicester is well on track to break, is the record for the greatest defensive in the history of the Championship.
The record for the fewest goals conceded over a season was originally set by Preston in 2005/06 and matched by Watford in 2020/21 – both only leaked 30 goals across 46 fixtures.
Leicester conceded 12 in their opening 20, which means they concede just 0.6 per game on average. If they maintain that tight defensive form throughout the campaign, then they could end up with just 27 goals conceded.
50 caps for Wilfred Ndidi ??
He’s come a long way. pic.twitter.com/tre1RdnZm1
— Soar Super Eagles (@SSE_NGA) March 27, 2023
With it being a defensive-based record, ball-winner Ndidi may feel more incentivized than Iheanacho to guide the Foxes to that specific piece of history.
The Super Eagles stars would have gone into the current campaign intending to help Leicester return to the Premier League. However, following their rapid start to life in the Championship, they could break records which would help them to cement themselves as some of the greatest Nigerians ever in the English game.
The Nigerian duo could write themselves into English soccer history for eternity if Leicester’s momentum does not slow down in the remainder of 2023/24.
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