Kelechi Iheanacho: the eyes of East Midlands are upon you

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MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – AUGUST 10: Kelechi Iheanacho of Leicester City looks on during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Leicester City at Old Trafford on August 10, 2018 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /

A disastrous tackle on Wolves defender Matt Doherty by Jamie Vardy has left the Foxes without their striker, as his 66th minute red card will certainly lead to the English international’s suspension. With the No.9 suspended, the Foxes will be looking at their No.8 to lead their attack.

A Pyrrhic Victory

The victory against Wolves was a deserved one. Though the Foxes were at times outplayed by the Wanderers. Yet, the East Midlands club showed their quality and earned all three points in a 2-0 victory. However, in their victory came a major defeat.

The Foxes will be without one of their most proficient goal scorers and in recent Premier League history. Since entering the Premier League in 2014, Vardy has scored 63 goals: making him one of the top goal scorers in the premiership since Leicester’s promotion from the Championship. Furthermore, the Foxes have become incredibly reliant on the 31-year-old’s goal scoring abilities.

Leicester City have scored a total of 221 goals in five seasons since rejoining the Premier League. Of all those goals, Vardy scored nearly 29 per cent of them. Vardy on the pitch is a necessity for the Foxes’ success. However, the red card against Wolves has left Leicester without their main goal scorer.

Iheanacho: the striker with all the potential

Much like the match against Manchester United when Vardy was on the bench, Nigerian international Kelechi Iheanacho will be the clear replacement for the speedy Englishman. However, Iheanacho’s career at Leicester has had its ebbs and flows since joining the club from Manchester City.

In his two seasons at Man City: Iheanacho made 64 appearances in all competitions and scored 21 goals, with 12 of them coming in the Premier League. However, since joining the Blue Army, Iheanacho has not had the same impact. While a Fox, the 21-year-old made 31 appearances and earned eight goals. Unfortunately, only three of those goals were scored in the Premier League. Though Iheanacho has not performed to the ability that he has shown at Man City, there is no doubt that the Nigerian international has quality.

Iheanacho has the skill to out muscle and control the ball from defenders with his size – in addition to clinical finishing ability. Though he may not have the pace of Vardy; Iheanacho makes up for his lack of speed by having terrific on-field vision and always finds his way into a goal scoring position. We saw all of these attributes during Leicester’s preseason.

In the final three games of the break, the clear breakout star for the Foxes was the young Nigerian striker. In friendly matches against Udinese, Valencia CF, and Lille OSC, Iheanacho managed four goals and played incredibly well. Simply put, it was some of the best performances Iheanacho produced in a Leicester kit so far. Yet, the problem with Iheanacho is that in low-stakes matches the young striker plays to his potential. When in a high-pressure scenario with the team relying on him, the Nigerian has faltered.