Championship: Leicester City vs Watford! 15 matches with only 2 wins, why do the Foxes struggle so much on Boxing Day?

Today, our first topic isthe Championship clash: Leicester City vs Watford!

Although recent videos about match performances have been disappointing, I still want to discuss this Championship game because the Foxes’ situation raises some real concerns for me.

Since the Vichai family acquired the Foxes in 2010, the club has accomplished many remarkable feats, including Premier League and FA Cup titles.

However, there have also been many poor decisions,such as consistently poor performances on Boxing Day every year.

A fact: Since the Vichai family takeover, the Foxes have played 15 Boxing Day matches in total but have only won twice, resulting in a win rate of just 13.3%.

This coming Boxing Day could be even worse,because the Foxes officially delayed paying wageswhich caused some staff to be unable to buy Christmas gifts for their families.

Although the club has apologized, such an incident could potentially damage team morale.

The Foxes’ poor Boxing Day record is related to the team's discipline.

The Vichai family gave the management too much freedom, and if they had a coach like Ranieri, things might have been better.

But the recent coaches have been younger and less experienced, which has been problematic.

This season, the Foxes have been very lackadaisical,playing many matches too casually.

For example, in their last six games, three times they were completely dominated in the first half! Twice they were down 0-3 at halftime, and once 0-4! This is not the performance expected of a strong team, or even a normal one!

After the last loss to QPR,coach Xie Fuentes lost his temper publicly, blaming players for not truly committing while refusing to take responsibility himself.

He especially needed to beat QPR because his departure from QPR to the Foxes was on bad terms. When he first negotiated with West Bromwich Albion, QPR found out and immediately suspended him. Later, when he moved to the better opportunity at Leicester, he left without hesitation.

Generally, when a former coach faces his old club, he has a big advantage since he knows them well.

Yet, they were crushed 0-4 in the first half by QPR. Besides QPR being motivated by his arrival, it seems the Foxes players also don’t respect him much.

The Foxes are indeed performing poorly now,struggling to create chances through teamwork. After 22 games, they have created only 40 high-quality chances, ranking 16th in the Championship,which is below average.

What does Leicester mainly rely on? Individual talent.

After all, even a weak camel is bigger than a horse. As a relegated team, Leicester still has many players with Premier League experience.

So we see thatLeicester leads the Championship in dribbles,which reflects their individual skill. Other teams with high dribble counts generally have strong Premier League backgrounds and excellent individual abilities.

Thanks to this individual skill advantage, despite poor teamwork, Leicester still holds a mid-table position and is not in serious relegation danger.

However, Watford is particularly unafraid of such teams.

This season, Watford has played four matches against teams ranked in the top five for dribbles outside themselves, achieving 3 wins and 1 draw without defeat.Teams like Middlesbrough and Southampton have struggled against Watford.

On the other hand, Leicester seems quite worried about Watford, a team skilled at drawing offsides.

They have played four matches this season against the top five teams in creating offsides in the Championship but have only won once,and that was a narrow last-minute win against second-to-last Norwich.

This makes me quite concerned that Watford might have Leicester’s number.

Watford is a team with strong discipline and fighting spirit.

For example, when behind in matches, they have recovered a total of 20 points, the highest in the Championship by a wide margin.

For instance,they even trained and prepared during Christmas without taking a break.This is almost like working through Chinese New Year’s Day — very tough indeed.

Such a team is well suited for Boxing Day matches, especially against a Foxes side historically poor on that day…

So, can Watford satisfy their fans? What do you think? I’m hoping they can at least secure a draw or a win.

Alright, for today’s other matches, I will still send you my written opinions tonight. If anything is unclear, feel free to ask me. “Watch football with understanding,” see you then!

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