Leicester City 0-1 Aston Villa: three things we learned

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Kelechi Iheanacho, Islam Slimani of Leicester City (Photo by James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images) /

The great inconsistent enigma that is Leicester City, the same ones who scored five at The Etihad have since gone 180 minutes with zero goals following their second defeat in a row to an in-form Aston Villa, a game that came with a £14.95 price tag. Where has it gone wrong since then and what three things did we learn from another home defeat?

Ricardo, Ndidi, Soyuncu & Vardy were four first team players that played key roles in two lots of hammerings of Aston Villa last season. All four were absent tonight and it showed. Before the game there were doubts over Jonny Evans & Dennis Praet, both of those played and looked sluggish at best with Evans picking up his customary yellow and Praet clearly carrying a knock and having little influence in midfield.

The Injury situation is reaching crisis point

Then there’s James Maddison who once again started on the bench. A player that is widely considered one of the best players in the Premier League, is once again starting from the bench with no real explanation why. A strong and fit eleven against a sluggish patched up one normally ends one way. Defeat to Aston Villa was entirely expected and the truth is they shaded a tight game.

Expectations of the team need to be adjusted as players that seemed to have no future are finding themselves in key areas not because of their form but merely because of desperation. On the positive side that lead to a fairly solid debut for Wesley Fofana who looked assured in his position. But on the downside seeing Islam Slimani taking to the field and chasing shadows at the end of the game was embarrassing for everyone.

Following the defeat Brendan Rodgers revealed that Soynucu won’t play until the new year meaning centre back options are once again in a desperate situation (anyone seen Benkovic anywhere?).

There is a real desperation to the team selection right now and Rodgers is having to be more and more creative in how he sets the team up. Rest isn’t going to be forthcoming anytime soon with the Europa league campaign starting on Thursday. Team selections are going to have to be even more creative in the coming weeks and don’t be surprised to see youth players drafted in.