Leicester player ratings see star Foxes failing to make the difference at Liverpool
Leicester City reopened their 2016-17 title defending campaign against Liverpool at the newly redeveloped Anfield on Saturday evening.
Despite the Foxes coming out of the gate and earning a quick corner in the opening 12 seconds of the match, for the most part they just were not good enough against the hosting Reds.
Jamie Vardy’s goal was a gift that he was lucky enough to receive as aside from that scoring effort Claudio Ranieri’s men hardly troubled Simon Mignolet’s goal.
With a readiness to get this one behind us and get to our UEFA Champions League debut this coming week here are your Foxes of Leicester unbiased player ratings.
First Team
Kasper Schmeichel – Although he made some decent saves and his distribution was not bad, poor decisions off of his line were costly and could have been even worse. – 5
Danny Simpson – Was starting to pose an attacking outlet down the right hand side, but injury cut his day much too short. – 6
Robert Huth – Against large powerful strikers Huth is a beast, but he struggled to contain Liverpool’s smaller, quick and technical attackers. – 5
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Wes Morgan – Was better than Huth on the day, but the captain struggled equally against the Reds attackers in the box. – 6
Christian Fuchs – The speed and power of Saido Mane was just too much for the left back to handle and Nathanial Clyne was equally difficult to deal with. – 6
Marc Albrighton – Failed to make an impact and his substitution was hardly even noticed in the second half. – 5
Danny Drinkwater – Leicester’s standout performer of the day doing his best to break up play through the middle of the park. – 7
Daniel Amartey – Struggled to make an impact as he just is not N’Golo Kante. – 5
Riyad Mahrez – Another match where the Algerian has just not been on top of his game this season. Was not much of a threat at all. – 5
Shinji Okazaki – Was responsible for forcing Lucas’s mistake that resulted in the Foxes only goal, was subbed off at half time to little surprise. – 5
Jamie Vardy – Aside from Drinkwater, Vardy was the best player on the pitch for Leicester with his tireless work trying to find a breakthrough. He finished off Lucas’s gift for the sides only goal. – 7
SUBS
Luis Hernandez (33′ for Simpson) – Doesn’t have Simpson’s attacking mindset, tried to cause issues with his long throws, but he isn’t Rory Delap. – 6
Ahmed Musa (45′ for Okazaki) – Was a better partner for Vardy than Okazaki, but failed to see his pace cause Liverpool many issues. – 6
Leonardo Ulloa (65′ for Albrighton) – Did not appear to have been the best of subs, failed to make any impact. – 5
All-in-all it was a day that the Champions will be glad to put behind them so they can focus on the next match.
It appears that the summer project of replacing Kante has so far failed. Nampalys Mendy seemed a true potential replacement, but he is still injured and without him the side continues to struggle with their game plan.