Palace 1-1 Leicester: the Foxes have good quality in the squad

I was impressed by Pérez, who constantly tried to impose himself on the game – drifting from his starting right position into the #10 when Praet did the reverse movement. Arguably, his greatest asset is his efficiency in the press, as he very rarely commits to a tackle without winning it – highlighted by his seven tackles! His 7.1 match rating (WhoScored) was the fourth highest for the Foxes, behind Barnes (7.6), James Justin (7.6), and Jonny Evans (7.6).

Rodgers did utilise the bench, and gave Demarai Gray his first 22 minutes of the Premier League campaign, but his involvements were little. He’s got undeniable qualities, and I’d love for those to be honed at Leicester City, but I’m accustom to the idea his better days will be elsewhere – and he’ll be an excellent player if he can find that level of consistency in both minutes and performances.

Youri Tielemans entered proceedings to reclaim control of the fixture, as Palace started the second-half with additional intensity. Roy Hodgson’s men seemed invigorated by the idea they were still level after a dismal opening 45 minutes, and they capitalised on their fortunate scenario with an excellent goal from Wilfried Zaha. This, again, dropped the Foxes confidence – who until Barnes’ exceptional equaliser 25 minutes later, looked bereft of ideas.

I was hopeful Rodgers would utilise the turnover heavy style of play against the compact, deep-block of Palace – but maybe that wasn’t possible with the personnel (missing players like Wilfred Ndidi make an end-to-end fixture difficult to control). Regardless, I hope we revert to something similar against Newcastle United this weekend. Steve Bruce will be setting up in a very similar way to the sides that have frustrated, and eventually won, against the Foxes this season.

All-in-all, Leicester City created enough to win the game against Crystal Palace – an expected goals (xG) of 1.96 to Palace’s 0.45 highlights this even further. But, when you’re not as clinical as you usually are – and the Foxes can’t continue to convert at the percentages they currently are, you need to create a couple of extra shots in order to win games. Let’s see how Rodgers shifts the side to help aid shot creation, and hopefully set’s Leicester up to get a victory at St. James’ Park.