Norwich City 1-0 Leicester City: Player ratings

Leicester City’s latest defeat was at the hands of Norwich City, who reside at the bottom of the Premier League. Let’s take a detailed look into the individual performances and where it went wrong for the Foxes.

Kasper Schmeichel: 7.5

Schmeichel’s performance deserved a clean sheet. He made five important saves – the best of which was to stop Ondrej Duda. Jamal Lewis’ goal was impossible to save – the strike started wide of the far post before bending in right at the end. Another good performance from the Danish shot-stopper.

Ricardo Pereira: 6

The Portuguese right-back struggled to impact the game offensively, as he didn’t do much except for that one ball for Dennis Praet’s first-half effort. Defensively, his battle with Todd Cantwell was fairly even, although he did allow him a few chances.

Jonny Evans: 7.5

A superb first-half display from Evans ensured that the visitors went into half-time level. Leicester started to control the ball in the second-half, which meant that Evans’ influence was more in possession. When Norwich did provide moments of quality, the 32-year old tended to deal with the issue.

Caglar Soyuncu: 5

It wasn’t a particularly bad game from the Turkish international, but he was definitely outshone by his centre-back partner. His progressive nature was absent, and during the latter stages, he alleviated the pressure on Norwich with some poor decision-making.

Ben Chilwell: 4.5

A run of bad performances from the young England international has seen a section of the fanbase calling for him to be dropped. He was at fault for the goal, allowing Max Aarons too much space to deliver the assist for Lewis’ strike. The appropriate response should be supporting the 23-year-old as he tries to rebuild his confidence.

Hamza Choudhury: 5

It was a quiet return to the side after his one-match suspension. After his substitution for Wilfred Ndidi, the tempo and speed of turnovers for Leicester did drastically improve, although it’s unfair on others to put all that on Choudhury.

Dennis Praet: 7

The Belgian had another astute performance in the midfield. He snuffed out a few breaks for the Canaries whilst constantly being reliable in possession. He had two good chances in the first-half that, on another day, would have been gone in – at least one of them. His influence reduced as the game progressed.

James Maddison: 5.5

Not the return to Carrow Road that Maddison would have wanted. He was unable to drive attacks like he usually does. The lack of a creative force in the middle forced him to collect the ball deeper and this negated his impact in the final third of the pitch.

Ayoze Pérez: 6

A composed figure in the first-half. Perez created a majority of the side’s chances, but his interplay on the right was limited as the game progressed. The counter-attacking style that Rodgers opted for during the opening half seemed to aid the Spaniard more than the slower possession-based style of the second-half.

Harvey Barnes: 7

Leicester City’s best attacking player but only because the team’s performance was below par. His pace and dribbling are two assets that Leicester should have used more often but as has often been the case this season, the final ball was poor.

Kelechi Iheanacho: 6

Another decent performer in the first-half but was absent in the second-half and that eclipsed his overall performance. Arguably unfortunate for the disallowed goal, but the rules do state that any touching of the ball with your hand/arm in the build-up to a goal will result in it being ruled out.

Wilfred Ndidi: 7

The Nigerian was the first substitution in the game – and a good one. His presence shifted the balance of the game, giving Leicester a lot more control in the middle of the park. Had he played the entire 90 minutes at the level of his 30-minute cameo, he would have been the best performer.

Youri Tielemans: 6

He replaced Praet in the 73rd minute. His short performance didn’t impact the game, which is a shame given the obvious qualities of the youngster. The underwhelming performances of the entire midfield will ensure he returns to the side for the game against Aston Villa.

Marc Albrighton: 5.5

Failed to so anything of note, although it was a difficult game to be introduced into. The 30-year-old only completed five of his nine passes (56%), which, when you’re being used as a difference maker, isn’t good enough.