# 2022–23 Leicester City F.C. season

The 2022–23 season was the 118th season in the existence of Leicester City Football Club, and their 55th (non-consecutive) season in the top tier of English football. This was their ninth consecutive season in the Premier League. In addition to the domestic league, they also competed in the season's editions of the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.
This was Leicester's first season since 2010–11 to not feature Kasper Schmeichel, who departed to Nice in the summer.
Leicester City made a poor start to their season, as they only picked up one point in their first seven league matches, and sat at the bottom of the table. At the eighth attempt, they achieved their first win of the season, after beating local rivals Nottingham Forest 4–0. The club went on to have a terrific run-in, until going back to losing ways with a 3–0 defeat to Manchester United. On 2 April 2023, having gone six matches without a win, head coach Brendan Rodgers was sacked after four years in charge. A week later, Dean Smith took temporary charge until the end of the season. Despite their final day win over West Ham United, Leicester were officially relegated to the Championship for the fourth time in their history following Everton's victory against Bournemouth. This made Leicester the second former champions in the Premier League era to be relegated, after Blackburn Rovers.

## Management team

The management team from the start of the season until 2 April 2023.
| Position | Name |
| Manager | Brendan Rodgers |
| Assistant manager | Chris Davies |
| First team coaches | Kolo Touré (until 29 November 2022) |
| First team coaches | Adam Sadler |
| First team coach & Goalkeeper coach | Mike Stowell |
| First team set-piece coach | Lars Knudsen (from 29 August 2022) |
Management team from 10 April 2023.
| Position | Name |
| Manager | Dean Smith |
| Assistant managers | Craig Shakespeare |
| Assistant managers | John Terry |
| First team coach | Adam Sadler |
| First team coach & Goalkeeper coach | Mike Stowell |
| First team set-piece coach | Lars Knudsen |

## Kits

| Home | Home 2023–24 | Away | Third |
| Goalkeeper 1 | Goalkeeper 2 | Goalkeeper 3 | Goalkeeper 2023–24 |

## Players
### Squad information

Players and squad numbers as of 28 May 2023. Appearances include all competitions. Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Player | Position(s) | Date of birth (age) | Signed in | Contract ends | Signed from | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| 1 | Danny Ward | GK | (1993-06-22)22 June 1993 (aged 30) | 2018 | 2025 | Liverpool | 47 | 0 |
| 12 | Alex Smithies | GK | (1990-03-05)5 March 1990 (aged 33) | 2022 | 2024 | Cardiff City | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Daniel Iversen | GK | (1997-01-19)19 January 1997 (aged 26) | 2018 | 2025 | Youth Academy | 17 | 0 |
| 41 | Jakub Stolarczyk | GK | (2000-12-19)19 December 2000 (aged 22) | 2019 | 2026 | Youth Academy | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| 2 | James Justin | LB / LWB / RB / RWB / CB | (1998-02-23)23 February 1998 (aged 25) | 2019 | 2026 | Luton Town | 83 | 5 |
| 3 | Wout Faes | CB | (1998-04-03)3 April 1998 (aged 25) | 2022 | 2027 | Reims | 36 | 1 |
| 4 | Çağlar Söyüncü | CB | (1996-05-23)23 May 1996 (aged 27) | 2018 | 2023 | SC Freiburg | 132 | 4 |
| 5 | Ryan Bertrand | LB | (1989-08-05)5 August 1989 (aged 33) | 2021 | 2023 | Southampton | 11 | 0 |
| 6 | Jonny Evans | CB | (1988-01-03)3 January 1988 (aged 35) | 2018 | 2023 | West Bromwich Albion | 152 | 7 |
| 15 | Harry Souttar | CB | (1998-10-22)22 October 1998 (aged 24) | 2023 | 2028 | Stoke City | 12 | 0 |
| 16 | Victor Kristiansen | LB | (2002-12-16)16 December 2002 (aged 20) | 2023 | 2028 | Copenhagen | 14 | 0 |
| 18 | Daniel Amartey | RB / CB | (1994-12-21)21 December 1994 (aged 28) | 2016 | 2022 | Copenhagen | 145 | 3 |
| 21 | Ricardo Pereira | RB / RWB | (1993-10-06)6 October 1993 (aged 29) | 2018 | 2026 | Porto | 124 | 9 |
| 23 | Jannik Vestergaard | CB | (1992-08-03)3 August 1992 (aged 30) | 2021 | 2024 | Southampton | 23 | 0 |
| 27 | Timothy Castagne | RB / LB / RWB / LWB / CB | (1995-12-05)5 December 1995 (aged 27) | 2020 | 2025 | Atalanta | 112 | 5 |
| 33 | Luke Thomas | LWB / LB | (2001-06-10)10 June 2001 (aged 22) | 2020 | 2024 | Youth Academy | 86 | 2 |
| 34 | Lewis Brunt | CB | (2000-11-06)6 November 2000 (aged 22) | 2021 | 2025 | Aston Villa | 4 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| 7 | Harvey Barnes | LW | (1997-12-09)9 December 1997 (aged 25) | 2016 | 2025 | Youth Academy | 187 | 44 |
| 8 | Youri Tielemans | CM | (1997-05-07)7 May 1997 (aged 26) | 2019 | 2023 | Monaco | 195 | 28 |
| 10 | James Maddison | AM | (1996-11-23)23 November 1996 (aged 26) | 2018 | 2024 | Norwich City | 203 | 55 |
| 11 | Marc Albrighton | RW / LW / RWB / LWB | (1989-11-18)18 November 1989 (aged 33) | 2015 | 2024 | Aston Villa | 295 | 19 |
| 22 | Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall | CM | (1998-09-06)6 September 1998 (aged 24) | 2017 | 2027 | Youth Academy | 80 | 5 |
| 24 | Nampalys Mendy | DM | (1992-06-23)23 June 1992 (aged 31) | 2016 | 2023 | Nice | 118 | 1 |
| 25 | Wilfred Ndidi | DM | (1996-12-16)16 December 1996 (aged 26) | 2017 | 2024 | Genk | 237 | 11 |
| 26 | Dennis Praet | CM | (1994-05-14)14 May 1994 (aged 29) | 2019 | 2023 | Sampdoria | 90 | 4 |
| 29 | Hamza Choudhury | DM | (1997-10-01)1 October 1997 (aged 25) | 2015 | 2023 | Youth Academy | 84 | 2 |
| 42 | Boubakary Soumaré | DM | (1999-02-27)27 February 1999 (aged 24) | 2021 | 2026 | Lille | 60 | 0 |
| 44 | Sammy Braybrooke | CM | (2004-03-12)12 March 2004 (aged 19) | 2022 | 2026 | Youth Academy | 1 | 0 |
| 47 | Kasey McAteer | CM | (2001-11-22)22 November 2001 (aged 21) | 2021 | 2025 | Youth Academy | 4 | 0 |
| 57 | Will Alves | AM | (2005-05-04)4 May 2005 (aged 18) | 2022 | | Youth Academy | 2 | 0 |
| Attackers ||||||||||
| 9 | Jamie Vardy | ST | (1987-01-11)11 January 1987 (aged 36) | 2012 | 2024 | Fleetwood Town | 426 | 170 |
| 14 | Kelechi Iheanacho | ST | (1996-10-03)3 October 1996 (aged 26) | 2017 | 2024 | Manchester City | 206 | 56 |
| 17 | Ayoze Pérez | SS / RW / AM | (1993-07-29)29 July 1993 (aged 29) | 2019 | 2023 | Newcastle United | 114 | 15 |
| 20 | Patson Daka | ST | (1998-10-09)9 October 1998 (aged 24) | 2021 | 2026 | Red Bull Salzburg | 74 | 15 |
| 37 | Tetê (on loan) | RW | (2000-02-15)15 February 2000 (aged 23) | 2023 | 2023 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 14 | 1 |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Position | Player | From | Fee | Team |
| 12 August 2022 | GK | Alex Smithies | Cardiff City | Free Transfer | First team |
| 1 September 2022 | CB | Wout Faes | Reims | £15,000,000 | First team |
| 20 January 2023 | LB | Victor Kristiansen | Copenhagen | £17,000,000 | First team |
| 30 January 2023 | FW | Nathan Opoku | Syracuse University | Undisclosed | Under-23s |
| 31 January 2023 | CB | Harry Souttar | Stoke City | £15,000,000 | First team |

### Out

| Date | Position | Player | To | Fee | Team |
| 30 June 2022 | RB | Vontae Daley-Campbell | Cardiff City | Released | Under-23s |
| 30 June 2022 | DM | Callum Hulme | Wythenshawe Town | Released | Under-23s |
| 30 June 2022 | GK | Eldin Jakupović | Everton | Released | First team |
| 30 June 2022 | CF | Will Russ | Fleetwood Town | Released | Under-23s |
| 30 June 2022 | RW | Tyrese Shade | Swindon Town | Released | Under-23s |
| 30 June 2022 | CF | Jacob Wakeling | Swindon Town | Released | Under-23s |
| 20 July 2022 | CF | Jack Butterfill | Barnsley | Free transfer | Under-23s |
| 3 August 2022 | GK | Kasper Schmeichel | Nice | Undisclosed | First team |
| 31 August 2022 | CB | Wesley Fofana | Chelsea | £70,000,000 | First team |
| 1 September 2022 | CM | Callum Wright | Blackpool | Undisclosed | Under-23s |

### Loans in

| Date | Position | Nationality | Player | From | Date until | Ref. |
| 29 January 2023 | RW | | Tetê | Shakhtar Donetsk | End of season | |

### Loans out

| Date | Position | Player | To | Date until | Team |
| 26 July 2022 | CM | Khanya Leshabela | Crewe Alexandra | 31 January 2023 | Under-23s |
| 28 July 2022 | CB | Ben Nelson | Rochdale | 6 January 2023 | Under-23s |
| 10 August 2022 | CM | Hamza Choudhury | Watford | End of season | First team |
| 15 August 2022 | GK | Jakub Stolarczyk | Fleetwood Town | 13 January 2023 | First team |
| 19 August 2022 | CF | Josh Eppiah | Northampton Town | End of season | Under-23s |
| 26 August 2022 | GK | Brad Young | Notts County | 6 January 2023 | Under-23s |
| 31 August 2022 | CF | George Hirst | Blackburn Rovers | 8 January 2023 | Under-23s |
| 8 January 2023 | CF | George Hirst | Ipswich Town | End of season | Under-23s |
| 17 January 2023 | CB | Ben Nelson | Doncaster Rovers | End of season | Under-23s |
| 23 January 2023 | GK | Jakub Stolarczyk | Hartlepool United | End of season | First team |
| 31 January 2023 | CF | Nathan Opoku | OH Leuven | End of season | Under-23s |
| 31 January 2023 | SS | Ayoze Pérez | Real Betis | End of season | First team |
| 31 January 2023 | RM | Marc Albrighton | West Bromwich Albion | End of season | First team |
| 31 January 2023 | AM | Kasey McAteer | AFC Wimbledon | End of season | Under-23s |
* ↑ On 6 January, Nelson's loan at Rochdale was cut short.
* ↑ On 13 January, Stolarczyk was recalled from his loan at Fleetwood.
* ↑ On 6 January, Young returned from loan due to injury.
* ↑ On 8 January, Hirst was recalled back from his loan at Blackburn, and joined Ipswich on loan.

## Pre-season and friendlies

On 5 June, Leicester City announced their first pre-season friendly, in Belgium against Oud-Heverlee Leuven. Ten days later, a trip to Preston North End was also confirmed, along with a behind-closed-doors meeting with Notts County. On 16 June, a home friendly match against Sevilla was revealed. A fifth friendly, away to Derby County was also confirmed as part of the clubs preparations for the new season. The schedule was completed with the addition of Hull City away.
Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Premier League | 7 August 2022 | 28 May 2023 | Matchday 1 | 18th | 38 | 9 | 7 | 22 | 51 | 68 | −17 | 023.68 |
| FA Cup | 7 January 2023 | 28 February 2023 | Third round | Fifth round | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 066.67 |
| EFL Cup | 23 August 2022 | 10 January 2023 | Second round | Quarter-finals | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 45 | 13 | 8 | 24 | 60 | 72 | −12 | 028.89 |
Source: Soccerway

### Premier League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 16 | Nottingham Forest | 38 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 38 | 68 | −30 | 38 | |
| 17 | Everton | 38 | 8 | 12 | 18 | 34 | 57 | −23 | 36 | |
| 18 | Leicester City (R) | 38 | 9 | 7 | 22 | 51 | 68 | −17 | 34 | Relegation to EFL Championship |
| 19 | Leeds United (R) | 38 | 7 | 10 | 21 | 48 | 78 | −30 | 31 | Relegation to EFL Championship |
| 20 | Southampton (R) | 38 | 6 | 7 | 25 | 36 | 73 | −37 | 25 | Relegation to EFL Championship |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Premier League

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | D | L | L | L | L | L | L | W | L | D | W | W | L | W | W | L | L | L | L | D | W | W | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | L | W | D | D | L | L | D | W |
| Position | 11 | 15 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 18 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 18 |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures
On 16 June, the Premier League fixtures were released.

### FA Cup

The Foxes entered the FA Cup in the third round and won away against Gillingham. They also won away against Walsall in the fourth round. They were eliminated by Blackburn Rovers in the fifth round following a 2–1 home defeat.
Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

### EFL Cup

Leicester entered the competition in the second round and were drawn away to Stockport County. They won at home against Newport County in the third round, and won away against Milton Keynes Dons in the fourth round. The Foxes were knocked out of the competition away to Newcastle United in the quarter-finals.
Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

## Squad statistics
### Appearances

* Italics indicate a loaned player
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premier League | Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | EFL Cup | EFL Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | | Danny Ward | 28 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | | James Justin | 15 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | DF | | Wout Faes | 36 | 1 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | | Çağlar Söyüncü | 9 | 1 | 6+1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | | Ryan Bertrand | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | | Jonny Evans | 14 | 0 | 12+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | | Harvey Barnes | 40 | 13 | 32+2 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | | Youri Tielemans | 37 | 4 | 27+4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3+1 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | | Jamie Vardy | 40 | 6 | 18+17 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2+1 | 3 |
| 10 | MF | | James Maddison | 31 | 10 | 27+2 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | | Alex Smithies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | | Kelechi Iheanacho | 35 | 8 | 12+16 | 5 | 1+2 | 3 | 1+3 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | | Harry Souttar | 12 | 0 | 11+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | | Victor Kristiansen | 14 | 0 | 11+1 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | | Daniel Amartey | 24 | 0 | 18+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | | Patson Daka | 36 | 4 | 13+17 | 4 | 1+2 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | | Ricardo Pereira | 11 | 1 | 5+5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | | Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall | 34 | 2 | 28+3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | | Jannik Vestergaard | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | | Nampalys Mendy | 24 | 1 | 7+12 | 1 | 2+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | | Wilfred Ndidi | 30 | 0 | 19+8 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | | Dennis Praet | 27 | 1 | 6+16 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | | Timothy Castagne | 42 | 2 | 36+1 | 2 | 1+1 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | | Daniel Iversen | 16 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | | Luke Thomas | 24 | 0 | 11+6 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 34 | DF | | Lewis Brunt | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | MF | | Tetê | 14 | 1 | 9+4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | MF | | Wanya Marçal-Madivadua | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | MF | | Boubakary Soumaré | 29 | 0 | 20+6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 44 | MF | | Sammy Braybrooke | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 57 | MF | | Will Alves | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 60 | DF | | Joe Wormleighton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Out on loan: ||||||||||||
| 11 | MF | | Marc Albrighton | 11 | 1 | 1+5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | | Ayoze Pérez | 13 | 1 | 3+5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3+1 | 1 |
| 29 | MF | | Hamza Choudhury | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | GK | | Jakub Stolarczyk | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | MF | | Kasey McAteer | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| Left club during season: ||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | | Kasper Schmeichel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | | Wesley Fofana | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goalscorers

| Rank | No. | Pos. | Nat. | Player | Premier League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Total |
| 1 | 7 | MF | | Harvey Barnes | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 2 | 10 | MF | | James Maddison | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 3 | 14 | FW | | Kelechi Iheanacho | 5 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| 4 | 9 | FW | | Jamie Vardy | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | 20 | FW | | Patson Daka | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | 8 | MF | | Youri Tielemans | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | 22 | MF | | Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | 27 | DF | | Timothy Castagne | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | 11 | MF | | Marc Albrighton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 37 | FW | | Tetê | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 26 | MF | | Dennis Praet | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 24 | MF | | Nampalys Mendy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 21 | DF | | Ricardo Pereira | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 4 | DF | | Çağlar Söyüncü | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 3 | DF | | Wout Faes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 2 | DF | | James Justin | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | 17 | FW | | Ayoze Perez | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 51 | 3 | 6 | 60 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | No. | Pos. | Nat. | Player | Premier League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Total |
| 1 | 1 | GK | | Danny Ward | 6 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 2 | 31 | GK | | Daniel Iversen | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 7 | 2 | 3 | 12 |