An asymmetrical 4-3-3 unlocks Harvey Barnes’ Leicester potential

With Maddison operating on the right, Iheanacho was able to play the “number 10” role without stepping on the toes of the 23-year-old. While Iheanacho made these dropping movements, Maddison drifted into the right half-space as the right-winger. This was for a couple of reasons; it’s an unnatural position (RW) for him to play, so moving into a more familiar central position made him feel comfortable.

He was rotating the right-wing position with right central-midfielder, Dennis Praet, so in transition either player would operate in either position – meaning that naturally the half-space was occupied more frequently than the wing. The final reason is to allow Timothy Castagne more freedom to maraud the right-flank, as his attacking contributions have been excellent for Leicester City so far this season.

The final component of the front three was Barnes, who played a devastating role on the shoulder of the defensive line. Barnes was tasked with being the most advanced player for the Foxes (in most scenarios), allowing Iheanacho/Maddison to drop into deeper areas to collect possession. I think this adjustment was brilliant from Rodgers, as without Vardy, Leicester City lose a key feature of their attacking transition – Vardy’s pace. Having Barnes operate on the defensive line, with similar qualities with regards to pace, allowed the Foxes to maintain a similar style of progression without their talismanic goal-scorer.