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Do Leicester City still need to find more cutting edge?

By Matt Taylor

LEICESTER, ENGLAND - MARCH 30: Jamie Vardy of Leicester City celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Leicester City and AFC Bournemouth at The King Power Stadium on March 30, 2019 in Leicester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LEICESTER, ENGLAND - MARCH 30: Jamie Vardy of Leicester City celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Leicester City and AFC Bournemouth at The King Power Stadium on March 30, 2019 in Leicester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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Despite coasting to a dominant victory on Saturday, Leicester City could have easily dispatched five or six past Bournemouth.

Leicester City’s performance this weekend can only be described as comprehensive, as they beat Bournemouth in the Premier League for the first time. However, with a conversion rate of just 11%, there is still plenty of room for improvement in the finishing department.

In terms of chance creation, Leicester have improved dramatically since their change in system allowed both James Maddison and Youri Tielemans to operate together in more advanced roles. The pair registered eight key passes between them on Saturday, underlining their proficiency at creating opportunities, statistics coming via WhoScored.

The key area where a certain cutting edge is lacking is out wide. Both Demarai Gray and Harvey Barnes caused the Bournemouth defence a wealth of problems, to the extent that full-back Charlie Daniels was substituted after 56 minutes because he just couldn’t handle City’s pace.

However, the young duo ultimately failed to convert this pressure into goals or assists. A recurring theme this season, as they have missed five ‘big chances’ already this season, as the Premier League website tells us. Although, both Gray and Barnes are still very young, undoubtedly holding the potential to step into a Mahrez-like role in the not so distant future. They simply need to start adding goals along with supplying others to their game, which looks increasingly likely under Brendan Rodgers.

Similarly to his teammates,  Jamie Vardy will count himself unlucky not to have scored more on Saturday. The 32-year-old snatched at his chances for most of the afternoon, before heading an overdue goal past Asmir Begovic.

His tally now stands at an impressive 13 for the season, but with 14 ‘big chances’ missed this campaign (Joint 4th highest in the Premier League), there is still room for improvement. There is no reason the Englishman cannot hit 20+ goals in a season for the third time in his career.

Comprehensive match report from LCFC 2-0 Bournemouth. light. Related Story

Overall, Leicester’s finishing was good enough to beat an underwhelming Bournemouth, but with Huddersfield Town, Newcastle United and West Ham on the horizon, City will have to be ruthless in front of goal.