Shinji Okazaki

Fans' View: Cup Win Opens Door Of Possibility

Three years since I started following Leicester City from the United States, the Foxes entered this season with an unusual calmness.
More on this story...

Absent the relegation fight of 2014/15, the title chase of 2015/16 and last year’s UEFA Champions League campaign, the Club needed to find something to fight for.

The Foxes, this year, are too good for the relegation battle and not fancied for a run at the top four places.

Of course, any Leicester fan will tell you to never count out a miracle, but two in three years is probably pushing it - even for our Club.

And so it looked like, after three wild years, Leicester would settle down somewhat.

[Tuesday's] win showed that Leicester City can still excite - and it just might light a fire in the squad.

That is why Tuesday’s Carabao Cup win over Liverpool - and the way the Foxes won it - was so important.

After a slow first half, Leicester were a different team in the second half.

They pressed, they fought, they looked like the better team, and they got two great goals from Shinji Okazaki and Islam Slimani.

It was the kind of match that can change a team - taking the game to one of the Premier League’s best brings up new possibilities.

Sometimes possibilities are all that are needed for motivation.

Liverpool’s first XI didn’t all play, but that’s an argument that can go either way.

Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho played, Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy didn’t.

Video

Goals: Leicester City 2 Liverpool 0

Catch all the goals from City's Carabao Cup clash against Liverpool which saw both Shinji Okazaki and Islam Slimani get their names on the scoresheet.

And, after the win, the faintest glimmers of past glories, of something to play for the rest of the season, appeared on the horizon.

A match-up with Sky Bet Championship leaders Leeds United is what stands between the Foxes and the quarter-finals.

If they make it, that would be the Club's best run in the competition in four years.

Is a run at the UEFA Europa League really that far-fetched?

The top-six places in the league are probably spoken for, but Leicester have just as much talent as every other team vying for that precious seventh spot.

Slimani provided a reminder of that on Tuesday with his curling left-footed wonder goal.

Expand photo
Islam Slimani
Islam Slimani

Wes Morgan celebrates with Islam Slimani

Of course, it’s still a long way until anything is decided.

Liverpool will return to King Power Stadium on Saturday with a chance to erase any optimism built up by Tuesday’s game.

But that win showed that Leicester City can still excite - and it just might light a fire in the squad.

About the author

Andrew, 23, is surely one of the biggest Leicester City fans in North Georgia.

He started following the Foxes early in the 2014/15 season, which left him a little confused, although no less ecstatic, when his side suddenly turned into the best team in England.

Andrew watched the opening game of the title-winning season in Vermont, the Aston Villa comeback in Montana, and the title-clincher in Washington DC.

Now, he is currently in the middle of a quest to turn at least one bar in Cartersville into a proper football pub.

Leicester City Crest

LATEST HEADLINES

LATEST VIDEOS

LATEST PHOTOS

Back

Get Game Pass

To watch Leicester City’s pre-season matches live on Foxes Hub, you need to have a Game Pass. Please click below to get yours and enjoy the action!

Buy Game Pass Now!