Leicester plan to keep their world-class defence long-term

Respected sports media outlet The Athletic suggest Leicester City will aim to keep their impressive defensive line-up for years, along with a versatile back-up player.

To be honest, we’re still on the rollercoaster: after an unpredicted and thrilling start to the Premier League season, Leicester City managed to lose to the equally underrated West Ham United and Aston Villa at home. Then the Foxes won their last six matches in the division and Europa League, topping Group G in the process.

Not to be too much of a downer, but, keeping to the unpredictable yet always entertaining Leicester tradition, the east Midlands side will probably beat Liverpool at Anfield – and then subsequently lose to Fulham at King Power Stadium. Let’s hope Brendan Rodgers will install stability to his wonderfully evolving team.

Leicester City want to keep their world-class defence

One of the keys to any squad’s consistency is having a sound as well as constant defence. An interesting opposing theory to this one actually lays with Rodgers: his incredible switching between a back-four or five dependent on opposition is ultra effective.

Although, when the Northern Irishman can welcome back Ricardo Pereira, we may see a more typical line-up. According to The Athletic, the Portuguese, Caglar Soyuncu, Wesley Fofana and Timothy Castagne are seen as Leicester’s long-term defence.

Presumably with, as they describe, the “versatile” James Justin joining a 3-4-3 or being readily available as understudy for full-backs in a 4-3-3.

Meanwhile, Stats Perform named Fofana as an Under-21 Premier League Player to Watch, as they assess the “brightest young talents making a name for themselves across Europe”. They note that Leicester have been victorious in all but one of their seven league and European outings with the Frenchman in the side. Additionally, the outlet states that the 19-year-old has the best average interception rate – three per game – of any EPL centre-back.