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Leicester City finally secured their first win since returning to the Premier League on Saturday as they beat AFC Bournemouth 1-0 at the King Power.

Steve Cooper was starting to really feel the pressure despite only taking over as Leicester City manager in the summer as a first Premier League win remained elusive.

However, a first three points of the season coincided with a first clean sheet as Cooper ensured he should now keep his job for a little longer.

Leicester’s next three games are all winnable as they face Southampton, rivals Nottingham Forest, and Ipswich Town and these fixtures will have a huge bearing on Cooper’s job prospects.

Leicester are currently 15th in the league on six points which looks like a decent return from the outside, but supporters remain frustrated with Cooper.

Leicester City over-performing under Steve Cooper

It would be fair to say Cooper was not the most popular appointment even before a ball was kicked given his association with Nottingham Forest and uninspiring tactics.

However, Leicester did not have managers falling at their feet at the summer given the expected points deduction at the time and Cooper was subsequently chosen as the man to replace Enzo Maresca.

Leicester were very lucky to draw with Tottenham Hotspur on the opening day but threw away a 2-0 lead to draw with Crystal Palace; their other draw coming against Everton at home where they were largely second best.

Now, new data published by Opta can go some way to highlighting why a number of Leicester fans want Cooper out despite the relatively decent points haul to start the season.

Opta have compared each Premier League team based on expected goals for and against to ascertain and expected league position after seven matches and this shows that Leicester are outperforming their underlying numbers.

This data suggests Leicester should actually be on four points (4.2), which would see them 19th in the league when compared to other teams on the same basis.

Data vindicates Leicester City fans’ opinion on Cooper

The only objective for Leicester this season is to stay in the Premier League and currently Cooper is doing that.

However, the football is turgid at times and fans’ frustrations boiled over in a week that saw the Foxes lucky to take a point at home against Everton and then draw 0-0 with League Two Walsall in the Carabao Cup.

Many feel Cooper is too risk-averse with his tactics and the fact he has deployed a midfield of Harry Winks, Oliver Skipp and Wilfred Ndidi on multiple occasions is evidence of this.

Cooper did take off the handbrake against Bournemouth somewhat as he dropped Winks to instead play Jordan Ayew as an attacking midfielder and this could be a sign he is willing to appease the Leicester fanbase to keep his job.

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