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Leicester's cup runs may doom them in the Premier League relegation fight
Leicester City beat Derby County in Wednesday's FA Cup replay, a seemingly exciting moment for the struggling Foxes. But while winning and the prospect of winning a trophy is always good, staying alive in another competition is the last thing Leicester need and they've have been better off losing.
A year removed from winning the Premier League title, Leicester now find themselves fighting just to stay in the top flight. They're in 16th place, one point clear of the relegation zone. And staying up is really all that matters to the Foxes at this point. It is priorities two through 10.
But while Leicester are trying to do all they can do stay in the Premier League, they also have the Champions League. The Foxes are into the round of 16 of the competition, an incredible accomplishment that has put them on a bigger stage than they could have ever imagined, but one that also requires they put their best foot forward. That is already taking something out of their push to avoid relegation.
Now, on top of that, they have the FA Cup to worry about. In Wednesday's replay, Leicester played largely a reserve team, but those are still depth players they will have to rely on who played 120 minutes. Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani both came off the bench, all ahead of a crucial league match on the weekend before the Champions League next week. And because they beat Derby, they'll have to play again in two weeks time, adding another match for them to deal with.
If you question the impact of all these extra matches, just look back at last year's Leciester. By January 20, they were out of all cup competitions, giving them a total of five non-Premier League matches all season-long. While their title contending rivals were playing in the League Cup, FA Cup, Champions League and Europa League, they were rested. No team in the Premier League used fewer players than Leicester last season, and with all the rest they got, it was no wonder.
This season, Leicester will head into mid-February with two cup competitions to deal with in addition to a Premier League relegation fight. They already have 12 cup matches on the schedule, taking them through March 14 and they may have even more. After all, beating Millwall in the next round of the FA Cup is distinctly possible, while topping Sevilla in the Champions League isn't entirely out of reach.
Leicester's fans left the King Power Stadium on Wednesday thrilled. But lost in that pursuit of the trophy is the damage it could do to their chances of staying in the Premier League. While the FA Cup and Champions League might sound good now, if those same fans are showing up to see the Foxes in the Championship next season, they may not look back on these cup runs nearly as fondly.
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