Harry Maguire was back to his absolute best at Anfield

The England defender put in a dominant performance as Leicester City claimed their first point at Anfield since New Year’s Day 2015.

In what may prove to be a pivotal match in this season’s title race, the Foxes dug deep to earn a draw on a snowy night in Liverpool. The result means the Reds extend their lead by just one point after Manchester City’s shock defeat in Newcastle.

Harry Maguire was key in City’s superb defensive performance, ensuring that they did not stretch their run of consecutive losses to three. There was no trace of the recent knee injury that hampered the 25-year-old in last week’s defeat at Molineux, instead he showed shades of his excellent England World Cup form.

The key numbers of Maguire’s game

Leicester’s talismanic defender won all four of his aerial battles, intercepted twice and registered a staggering 10 clearances; statistics via WhoScored. His influence and leadership certainly showed, particularly in the latter stages of the game as the Foxes held on to claim a deserved point.

Although, the one stat that really mattered was Maguire’s name on the score sheet. After Andrew Robertson needlessly hacked down Ricardo Pereira, Liverpool failed to clear their lines before the Three Lions defender latched on to Ben Chilwell’s looping header. The equaliser, coming right on the stroke of half-time, clearly meant a lot to the 25-year-old as he passionately celebrated right in front of the famous Kop-End.

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The entirety of City’s back line all deserve honourable mentions as well. Kasper Schmeichel denied Roberto Firmino excellently on two occasions, while full-backs Pereira and Chilwell continued their run of impressive performances against the established top 6. Most notably, Johnny Evans barely put a foot wrong, hopefully cementing his claim as Maguire’s defensive partner for weeks to come. While relegating Wes Morgan to the bench, with all due respect.

Still room for improvement?

Unfortunately, it was another start to forget for the Foxes’ defenders, with Sadio Mane breaking the deadlock after just 121 seconds. Another lacklustre beginning certainly made the contest an up-hill struggle for Leicester City. In addition, concentration within their defence seemed at an all time low.

Interestingly, a rather contentious decision could have seen Maguire’s night end just minutes before he scored the all-important equaliser. The central defender cynically brought Mane down on the half-way line, halting the Senegalese winger from accelerating towards the Leicester goal. A booking was the 25-year-old’s rather lenient punishment.

If Leicester take the necessary measures to avoid conceding early goals, they will certainly improve their fortunes in the coming weeks. Confidence seems an instrumental factor. Hopefully, Maguire can replicate his impressive performances and help the Foxes secure 7th place.