Leicester City will be praying the wheels fall off for Frank Lampard's Coventry City - here is why | OneFootball

It would add insult to injury for Leicester to see Coventry succeed

Barring a late-season miracle, Leicester City will once again be playing Championship football next year.

Two relegations in three seasons would not be easy to take for any club, but it could still get worse for the Foxes.

Local rivals Coventry City are on the rise under new boss Frank Lampard, looking set for a play-off place if they remain on the same trajectory.

For more than one reason, it would make Leicester’s gutting demotion all the more painful.

The Foxes' fate is not yet mathematically sealed, of course, but the nine-point margin separating themselves from 17th-placed Wolves with just nine fixtures to spare means their divisional status for the 2025/26 campaign feels something of a foregone conclusion and they could well end up swapping leagues with the Sky Blues.

Coventry City promotion would be a source of embarrassment for Leicester

With nine games left of the Premier League season, and Leicester having a nine-point gap to close to reach Wolverhampton Wanderers, salvation at this stage seems unlikely; the club will almost certainly be relegated to the Championship.

The picture looks very different at Coventry, with the club now two points inside the play-off places thanks to a boost in form under Frank Lampard.

They could face one of Leeds United, Sheffield United or Burnley in the play-offs if they get there but, as is so often the case, it could be the team that finds form late and sneaks in that wins the promotion spot, rather than the third-best team from the regular season.

To swap league places with their rivals, Coventry, would be the ultimate embarrassment for Leicester, given they have routinely been the stronger side in recent years.

Leicester City could miss playing Coventry in the Championship

Not only would the division swap be embarrassing for the Foxes, but they would also miss the enticing chance to play the Sky Blues again next term.

The two sides were in the second tier together in the 2023/24 season and produced some entertaining clashes.

Their first meeting came at the very beginning of that campaign, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall snatching two late goals to mount a 2-1 comeback in the first M69 for over a decade.

The Sky Blues got their revenge later in the season, however. This time, it was they who came from behind to earn the three points, notching three goals in 11 second-half minutes to earn a 3-1 win.

The Foxes will be praying they don’t have to wait another decade to revive such entertaining meetings, as such a wait would likely mean Coventry have found their way into the Premier League.

Leicester City may have Frank Lampard regret amid Coventry exploits

Both outfits are managed by ex-Premier League greats: Lampard for Coventry and Ruud van Nistelrooy for Leicester.

But things could have been different back in 2021, when reports suggested that Lampard was keen to take on the manager’s role at the King Power Stadium.

It centred around then-manager Brendan Rodgers’ potential move to Manchester United, which never materialised, before the manager was ultimately sacked in 2023.

The timings almost worked out for Lampard to fulfil his Leicester interest, having just departed Everton himself earlier the same year, but days after Rodgers’ departure Lampard was announced as Chelsea’s interim boss.

To see rivals Coventry rising under Lampard would be painful enough, but knowing that Lampard was interested in managing Leicester at one stage adds another level of discomfort.

For more than one reason, the Foxes will be praying for a Coventry fall-off at the end of this season under Lampard.