Five-star Foxes: Leicester City reclaim home dominance over Newcastle United
Newcastle United were unable to maintain their dominance at the King Power Stadium after Steve Bruce’s side fell victim to a 5-0 thrashing by Leicester City.
A lot of talk will be surrounding Isaac Hayden’s straight red for an excessively forceful challenge on Dennis Praet – who was fortunately unharmed by the tackle – but the truth is, the result was inevitable and the injury purely acted as a catalyst.
Interestingly, the 1-0 loss to Newcastle at home last season saw the Foxes have more shots on target than the 5-0 victory this weekend, further highlighting how fragile the Magpies’ defence is currently.
Newcastle were held to a goalless draw with relegation rivals Brighton and Hove Albion last week but Steve Bruce used an uninspiring 5-4-1 formation yet again, lacking any attacking inspiration.
He attempted to match Leicester in the midfield, opting for three central midfielders – Leicester usually play a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-1-4-1 and both of these formations facilitate three central-midfielders.
This attempted matchup quickly backfired with the sending off of Isaac Hayden, one of Newcastle’s two central-defensive midfielders. Yoshinori Muto was playing as a makeshift attacking midfielder – as he’s better suited to a target-man forward – so the red card altered the dimension of their midfield and ultimately weakened it.
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Regardless, credit needs to go to the Leicester midfield, especially Wilfred Ndidi. Newcastle had to replace Muto with Ki Sung-yueng, who filled the gap in the middle of the park left by Hayden, though to little avail as Leicester continued to dominate.
The icing on the cake was the fifth and final goal, nicely taken by Wilfred Ndidi. A dominant defensive display from the Nigerian was capped off with an excellent strike that was inevitable given his involvement in the attacking third.
Tactically, Brendan Rodgers managed the absence of James Maddison well, using the Luton Town fixture as a trial for a Praet and Youri Tielemans partnership, rekindled three years after their RSC Anderlecht stint.
The two Belgians ran the midfield. They were instrumental in most of their side’s attacking play and complimented each other well. With Praet in the side, Tielemans also got the freedom to play as the attack-minded central midfielder, a role he normally has to sacrifice for Maddison.
Another reason why Leicester recycled efficiently and progressed play well through the midfield is how Harvey Barnes and Ayoze Perez were used. When one pushed central to allow their full-back to push, the other remained wide to provide the width and an alternative option for the central midfielders.
It was a clever system that truly got the best out of the available width. It was no surprise, then, that Ricardo Pereira scored the opener from a good transition from the wing. The system Rodgers operated with unlocked the talent out wide, making up for the absence of Maddison.
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At the end of the weekend, proceedings came to their natural conclusion. Newcastle’s struggles continued, with little hope of any changes. Leicester’s magnificent form remained intact, and even with their nucleus missing, they managed to achieve history – their biggest win in the Premier League.