Leicester City vs Liverpool: What the stats tell us about key performers Harvey Barnes, Jamie Vardy and Wilfred Ndidi and how they impacted the game.
Leicester City’s 3-1 victory over Liverpool on Saturday was certainly an entertaining watch for fans and neutrals alike and even the most level headed supporter would be forgiven for getting carried away during the Foxes’ remarkable turnaround. Now the dust has settled and the points are on the board we can take an objective look at which players stood out on the stat sheet.
Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy
The return of Vardy to the starting eleven was a major boost for Brendan Rodgers and despite showing some signs of rustiness in front of goal the veteran striker looked much more mobile following his Hernia operation and gave Liverpool debutant Ozan Kabak plenty to think about on his introduction to the premier league.
Vardy registered five shots inside the box with three of these going down as “big chances”. The Leicester talisman could easily have bagged himself a hattrick in the first half with an early lobbed effort just sailing over the Liverpool goal, a header on target and a one on one that came crashing off the bar. Vardy got his goal at a crucial moment though putting the Foxes 2-1 up after sniffing out an opportunity and pouncing on a mix up between Kabak and Alison who had ventured along way out of his box. Vardy seized the chance ran the ball towards the empty net before tapping home from close range.
Vardy could and probably should have grabbed a second goal minutes later when Alison parried a Harvey Barnes effort into City’s top scorers path, Vardy was quick to react but put his shot too close to the Liverpool keeper who made amends for his previous blunder with a smart goal line save onto his own post.
Harvey Barnes
Brendan Rodgers was full of praise for his young winger after the game and rightly so, Barnes was a catalyst for a lot of Leicester’s attacking play with his direct running and electric pace. Barnes was up against Trent Alexander-Arnold, a player who single handily demolished Leicester in this fixture last year, but Saturday was a different story.
Barnes gave the Liverpool right back plenty of problems throughout the game and seemed to get the better of his man on a number of occasions. Harvey completed 4 successful take ons, the most by any player during the game and Klopp’s men had to resort the bringing the Leicester academy graduate down on multiple occasions. Harvey’s direct running finally got the better of Liverpool in the build up to Leicester’s first goal when Thiago tripped Barnes on the edge of the box.
After a lengthy review by VAR to see if the foul was inside or outside the area (initially Leicester were awarded a penalty) Maddison’s delivery fizzed past everyone and into the far corner putting the Foxes level after further VAR shenanigans to check for a potential offside on Daniel Amartey.
Barnes registered two shots in the box late in the game from almost identical positions, firstly he had an effort saved by Alison after dancing past three Liverpool defenders before breaking through again moments later when Wilfred Ndidi played the ball through for a rare assist. Barnes slotted then ball into the far corner and to seal a big three points while also put a seven game winless run against Liverpool behind them.
Wilfred Ndidi
Ndidi has become a vital cog in the Leicester machine, the side is considerably stronger when the Nigerian is in his natural defensive midfield position, in fact Leicester have not lost a game when Wilfred has been in the midfield this season (seven wins two draws).
Ndidi’s performance against Liverpool was one of the best defensive performances by any midfielder in the league this season and his numbers show just how much work he gets through:
- 3 interceptions
- 3 blocked shots
- 5 clearances
- 5 tackles (100% success rate)
- 19 ball recoveries (6 more than any other player)
To record 19 ball recoveries in a single game is simply phenomenal, this was a new Premier League high for the season beating the previous record of 18 ball recoveries (set by, you guessed it, Ndidi against Spurs).
When we factor in that Ndidi also got an attacking return with his pass to Barnes for Leicester’s crucial third goal it’s hard to believe that he didn’t get awarded man of the match by commentator Steve McManaman. The Foxes’ faithful made sure Wilf got some recognition crowning him the supporters man of the match on Twitter. All the stats used in this article are taken from Fantasy Football Scout.