Leicester City beat Wolverhampton Wanderers as James Maddison scored a classy goal on his home debut. Here’s what we learned from their 2-0 win:
A lucky, lucky win
Leicester City’s victory wasn’t so much about their own performance as it was about the luck that helped them all along. They started the game poorly, and they ended the same way as Jamie Vardy was sent off for a reckless, unnecessary and pathetic challenge on Matt Doherty.
There were moments of quality in between, particularly from Ben Chilwell, James Maddison and Ricardo Pereira, but overall, Leicester weren’t quite at the level that they were last week against Manchester United.
Claude Puel would know that had Wolverhampton Wanderers shared even a quarter of the luck that got the Foxes all three points, then it could easily have been a different story.
He has to demand improvements before the trip to the St. Mary’s Stadium.
Defending once more a let-down
The experienced Jonny Evans was expected to bring some much needed defensive stability to the side, but his inclusion did no good at all.
His Leicester City debut was everything that no one hoped for it to be: horrific. The 30-year old was all over the place – especially in the first half – and seemed more of a like-for-like replacement for the erratic Wes Morgan than an upgrade.
Harry Maguire, who usually carries an air of composure in and on his head, was well out of his depth, too, which left the team relying on Wilfred Ndidi and Nampalys Mendy to bail them out of trouble.
Leicester may have progressed everywhere else, but the defending has only gone – and is still going – backwards.
Nampalys Mendy could be the way forward
If Nampalys Mendy can consistently play the way he did against the Wolves, then Adrien Silva and Vicente Iborra are both going to find it tough to make it into Claude Puel’s XI. A statistical look at his display would further explain why:
Total passes: 49
Passes completed: 47 (95.91%)
Accurate long balls: 3
Successful tackles: 3
Interceptions: 3
Aerials won: 1
Clearances: 1
The numbers speak for themselves, don’t they? Mendy was simply sensational alongside the ever-industrious Wilfred Ndidi in the midfield, and deserves as much credit as the Nigerian for the win the other day.
For now, the central midfield mustn’t give Puel any headache.