Premier League Preview: Leicester City

Blog written by ad_wilkin
Published: 1st November 2024 14:48

Leicester are currently the newly promoted side faring the best in the Premier League with two victories (Bournemouth and Southampton) and three draws (Everton, Crystal Palace and Tottenham) in nine Premier League games so far.

They lost manager Enzo Maresca over the summer but replaced him with the experienced Steve Cooper. It was an interesting appointment considering Cooper had come straight from managing rivals Nottingham Forest where he was sacked in December 2023 with Forest in 17th position but on a poor run of form.

Cooper suffered defeat at the hands of his former employers last weekend and will be in the stands for this one having picked up three yellow cards over the course of this season so far.

<h1>Goalkeepers </h1>

Twenty-four-year-old Mads Hermansen has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water and Leicester look like they’ve found another gem in the goalkeeping department.

Following in the footsteps of his Danish counterpart Kasper Schmeichel, Hermansen already has a goals prevented rate of 4.59. He’s only behind Mark Flekken in saves per game and his performance in the 4-2 defeat to Arsenal was phenomenal with 13 saves made to help keep the scoreline as close as it was.

It’s Welshman Danny Ward who has returned from the cold and looks to be Leicester’s second choice, playing in cup victories against Tranmere and Walsall with Daniel Iversen the number three and last year's number two Jakub Stolarczyk failing to make a matchday squad so far.

<h1>Defenders </h1>

James Justin is another player who has made the step up to the Premier League with ease and looks to have made the right-back spot his for the time being. He followed up a brace against Arsenal, one of which was a sublime volley with the outside of the boot which curled in off of the post, with an assist against Bournemouth and will be hoping to put the injury problems of last season behind him.

His form has kept a Maresca favourite, Ricardo Pereira, out of the squad but the 31-year-old Portugese international did start his first game of the season with Justin switching to left-back against Nottingham Forest. His role in that game was influential as a bit of a switch back to the Maresca days with Pereira drifting into midfield to form a double pivot as the rest of the defence formed a back three.

Key to Leicester's recent success is the centre-back partnership that has been building between Wout Faes and Caleb Okoli. The pair have started the last seven games together and performed well.

Faes has now made 92 appearances for Leicester, having joined the club in the season they got relegated. He was one of the few standout performers in that season, barely missed a game last season and has shown he’s more than capable at this level, although he did almost scored a spectacular own goal against Forest.

Okoli is a new signing having joined from Atalanta this summer and seems to be a very astute one. He provides a natural left-footed balance to the pairing and has certainly been kept busy with the second-highest clearances per game (6.7) in the league with Faes just below him on 6.4

With those two starting, the two more experienced heads, Conor Coady and Jannick Vestegaard, have had to make do with the odd cup appearance and a place on the bench so far.

Victor Kristiansen had started the first eight games before missing the Forest match due to injury. The 21-year-old Dane joined from FC Kobenhaven in 2023 but spent last year out on loan at Bologna where he made 32 Serie A appearances and contributed three assists. He’s become a regular in the Denmark national team as well as Leicester and provides good left-footed balance down that side.

Justin and Pereira are both right-footed but can both fill in there but Leicester also have left-footed Luke Thomas still in the squad having had loan spells at Sheffield United and Middlesbrough last season.

<h1>Midfield </h1>

Last season, Maresca operated with a midfield three of which Harry Winks was the base and despite Cooper switching that to more of a two with Wilfried Ndidi alongside him, it is still Winks that is the driving force in there.

He’s completed 90% of his passes and has two assists in his last two games. The one against Nottingham Forest showcased all of his talents, picking up the ball deep, playing a one-two before laying it off, making an inside run into the box before picking out Jamie Vardy with an expertly squared ball.

Next to him, Ndidi is doing more of the enforcing. He has made the most tackles per game in the Premier League (4.0) but has also retained some of his attributes from last season as he has the ability to drive forward into a more advanced role and make his presence felt in the box, particularly for crosses.

He is already on four assists for the season as he was playing in the number 10 role at the start of the campaign.

That meant Oliver Skipp was alongside Winks in midfield for the first few games. Skipp was signed from Tottenham, where he had previously played alongside Winks, in the summer. Still only 24, Skipp has 83 Premier League appearances and sits somewhere in between the passing attributes of Winks and the tackling of Ndidi.

The other options in those central midfield areas are Boubacar Soumare and Hamza Choudry, both of whom have had very limited minutes so far.

<h1>Forwards </h1>

Leicester’s man of the moment is Facundo Buonanotte, the 19 year-old Argentinian, who is on loan from Brighton. He has three goals and two assists in eight starts and put in a man of the match performance against Southampton.

He’s in a similar mould to Omari Hutchinson and has spent time on both the right wing and the central 10 role as Cooper tries to find the right balance for his attacking line. Town will have to watch out for his pressing as he has won the ball the joint most times out of anyone in the final third.

Someone who has been a constant fixture in the frontline is 37-year-old Jamie Vardy, starting all nine games so far. His four goals have come with a goal conversion rate of 36% showing that while he may have lost a yard of pace, his clinical finishing is still there. Town could have success playing a high line as his 10 offsides so far is the third highest in the Premier League.

There are two wingers in the Leicester squad who Town will be familiar with from last season, Stephy Mavididi and Abdul Fatawu. Both have played some part in all nine games with Mavididi on six starts and Fatawu four.

Mavididi scored in the back-to-back draws against Crystal Palace and Everton but has gone off the boil a bit in recent games, whereas Fatawu’s impact off the bench against Southampton earned him a start against Forest. He has two assists for the season but no goals so far.

The other player who has featured in both of those positions is Jordan Ayew. The experienced Ghanaian was signed from Palace for a small fee in the summer and used all of his experience recently, coming off the bench to score the winner against Southampton from a well-worked corner routine.

Another player who made the move from Palace to Leicester is Odsonne Eduoard, who has only made the journey north on a temporary basis. He scored 21 goals in 103 appearances for Crystal Palace but the form of Vardy in the central role has meant he’s had to wait for starts with most of his appearances coming from the bench.

Also in the squad are young attacking midfielder Bilal El Khannouss who has made two starts as he’s eased in following his summer signing from Genk and free transfer signing Bobby Decordova Reid, who’s a versatile option having played everywhere from centre forward to right-back in his time at Fulham.

That has left Kasey McAteer and Patson Daka, who were important players in the Foxes' promotion struggling for game time, although the latter's lack of appearances is down to injury and he could be fit again soon.

<h1>The Teams </h1>

For Ipswich a lot will depend on injuries. Axel Tuanzebe and Chiedozie Ogbene will definitely be missing with long-term injuries, whilst Sam Morsy, Jack Taylor and Ben Johnson could all miss out with more minor problems. Harry Clarke will be suspended but hopefully Omari Hutchinson will have recovered from his illness.

The big topic of conversation after Aro Muric made an absolute hash of Bryan Mbeumo’s last-minute cross is whether he should lose his place. He’s also made similar errors against Manchester City but let's not forget a string of crucial saves helped Town keep hold of a point against Brighton. I think Kieran McKenna will stick with his man.

The back four will depend on whether Ben Johnson is fit. If he is he’ll likely replace Clarke but if not, O’Shea could move across, although it was Luke Woolfenden who filled the right-sided gap after Clarke’s sending off.

I liked the new look midfield of Cajuste and Phillips and would keep that together even if Morsy is fit again.

Up front, Liam Delap will probably come back in for George Hirst with Hirst’s start against Brentford a tactical switch.

Behind him is anyone’s guess, I think both Conor Chaplin and Sammie Szmodics have done enough to keep their place and would love to see Omari Hutchinson on the right-hand side where people have been clamouring for him to play. However, I can see McKenna opting for Wes Burns down there and moving Omari central.

Leicester had a midweek cup clash against Manchester United which ended in a 5-2 defeat for a heavily rotated side with just Justin and Okoli surviving from their previous league fixture. I think that it will be a switch back to a large majority, if not all of the team that started for them against Nottingham Forest in this one.

<h1>Prediction </h1>

Leicester only one of two teams who have scored in every game this season. Town have only kept one clean sheet, the same number as Leicester. Both teams have made individual errors that have cost them with Faes the latest for Leicester, misjudging a header last Friday against Nottingham Forest to allow Chris Wood to nip in and score.

This one could come down to who avoids those mistakes and is clinical with their chances. What is crucial is Town must put in a performance in this one that builds on Brentford. The Portman Road crowd also needs to turn up after a subdued atmosphere against Everton.

This game is a big one, not just in terms of points but also in terms of morale. Performances have been largely good but points are the currency of the division and Town need to start being paid back in threes.

Let’s turn up and get them on the board. 3-0 Ipswich Town.

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