Slavia Prague 0-0 Leicester City: Pros and cons of the diagonal pivot

It was a goalless draw in Leicester City’s Round of 32 tie with SK Slavia Prague, as the hosts offered a physical battle that the Foxes couldn’t match. Should Leicester City fans be nervous or excited about the return fixture at the King Power Stadium?

Injuries permitted, Leicester City fielded arguably their strongest XI at the Sinobo Stadium, with Daniel Amartey retaining his place as a makeshift right-back. The only change from the Liverpool game was Ricardo Pereira – who was left in England to rest – being replaced by Luke Thomas. I will allude to this later on, but for me, Thomas was the man of the match for the Foxes.

Aside from the one change, Leicester City maintained the same shape (a 4-2-3-1 formation), a similar building pattern – finding Wilfred Ndidi as the deepest midfielder, and offered a similar level of defensive resilience. The Slavia Prague press wasn’t as intense as Liverpool’s and perhaps that gave the defence a false sense of comfort – often dawdling in possession allowing the hosts to suffocate them, and squeeze the size of the pitch.

To make life easier, Brendan Rodgers adjusted the dynamic of the double pivot. Ordinarily, Youri Tielemans and Wilfred Ndidi play alongside each other and create a screen (i.e. a horizontal wall). In possession, this allows either play to drop for the ball and gives Çağlar Söyüncü and Jonny Evans additional passing lanes to build attacks.