The headlines leading into today’s match between Leicester City and Aston Villa focussed on Jack Grealish’s absence, Brendan Rodgers’ rumoured replacement of beleaguered Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho and Brentford’s Ivan Toney being Jamie Vardy’s heir apparent.
Leicester dominated the first-half, scoring twice and permitting no attacking privileges in preventing any registered shots on target. An early second-half goal from Bertrand Traoré and Maddison’s 64th-minute substitution invited pressure to the away team’s box. Fortunately, Villa failed to capitalise recording only an additional shot on target in addition to their goal.
James Maddison and Harvey Barnes shared the goal-scoring spoils that doubtlessly impressed visiting England manager Gareth Southgate. Picking the Midlands clash as his favoured match in a congested Sunday fixture list featuring both Manchester clubs is a testament to the progress of both clubs this season and the wealth of English talent on display at Villa Park.
These are our five talking points from today’s match.
1) Lost: Vardy’s magic hat
The iconic forward’s stats are possibly covering a decline. In open-play, Vardy has registered six goals in 20 league matches, with another six coming from the penalty spot. While by no means a bad return, it is some way from his exceptional standard. The impact of a groin hernia pre and post-surgery remains a point of contention.
Operating in his preferred sole striker role, the Englishman played off the attacking right, seeking to capitalise on the forward nature of left-back Matt Targett’s play this season. A saved shot in the opening 25-minutes provided a Barnes rebound. While the second-half witnessed two attacking chances squandered, with Tyrone Mings playing a clever defensive game to limit Vardy’s options. Seasons past may have seen Vardy conjure his trademark pace, but today provided little joy despite scoring five goals in previous league meetings.
2) Barn(es)stormer
The latest success story from the East Midlands academy production line is the name on Leicester City’s fans lips and the toast of Fantasy Football players worldwide. With 13 goal contributions to his name, seven coming in the new year, Barnes is the in-form Leicester player. A goal and assist provided the cushion needed to bring home three points today, a second consecutive man-of-the-match champagne bottle will be joining him on the short journey along the M42.
Given the Foxes lauded transfer policy, questions will be raised whether Barnes is the next high-profile departure. Maddison, Wilfried Ndidi and Ricardo Pereira have presented impressive cases over previous years to be next in line, but each has question marks over injuries. The Burnley native has faced no physical adversity, combining this with his form makes him an attractive prospect.
3) “Second-half team”
Leicester City’s league success this season is much publicised. An element often squandered from the conventional script is the nature of these victories. Before today, 40.4% of Leicester’s goals were in the opening 45-minutes, with the majority coming in the second half. Being slow to start but quick to exploit oppositions second-half malaise, the Foxes have been as opportunistic as their nickname suggests. Today’s match proved that Rodgers’ team are capable of putting their shop stall out early, and capitalising on early gains. Last week’s performance at Anfield is the antithetic comparison.
Invoking memories of Swansea and Liverpool under Rodgers provides reminiscences of possession play. Leicester have been guilty of unadventurous backwards and sideways passing this season. However, this technical platform has provided the basis for intense periods of attacking play that Villa was subjected too predominately in the game’s opening half. The defensive play in the latter half brings talking point four.
4) Leicester City defending deep
Losing Maddison to injury suspended the attacking impetus. Despite being capable of wasting set-pieces and attempting overzealous shots from range, the attacking midfielder’s importance to Leicester City’s offensive moves cannot be dismissed. Without him, the balance going forward disappeared. If Youri Tielemans is Rodgers’ coach on the pitch, then Maddison is his conductor. Directing the pitch and momentum, and delivering rich symphonies of play when at his best, today’s crescendo masterfully opened the scoring. Early rumours suggest Maddison’s injury is a reoccurrence of last year’s hip injury, the severity is currently unknown.
While the orchestra halted with Mendy’s introduction at Maddison’s expense. What replaced it was a solid defensive sponge, absorbing Villa’s offensive play. Dismissing the Birmingham outfit as a one-man team missing their talisman would be to underestimate the progress made at Villa Park this season. Grealish’s replacement Anwar El Ghazi is capable of rich play, as shown on his four-goal run at the crux of 2020, and record signing Ollie Watkins famously devastated Liverpool earlier in the season. Leicester showed they were capable of switching play to sitting deep to defend a lead. Per Vavel, Rodgers noted post-match that “[Villa] had momentum so we had to stand up, but we withstood it.”
5) Et Tu, Timothy?
Since losing Ben Chilwell in the summer, questions were raised about who would man the defensive left-flank. Today, Luke Thomas supplied a solid performance, belying his 19-years. However, a more significant talking point is the debut combination of Pereira and Timothy Castagne on the right. The Portuguese occupied a forward-position and harassed the Villa box on multiple occasions from range. The interplay between both players teased the possible fruitfulness of their right-sided partnership.
The right-wing position has been a problem for the Foxes since Riyad Mahrez’s 2018 departure, with no player laying a consistent claim to the spot. Comments in recent weeks question Cengiz Ünder’s suitability, limited league appearances and failure to find the net do little to support his case. Pereira is still returning from his lengthy lay-off, today signals his capability to fight for the contended spot. Rodgers confirmed as much, stating “We’ve wanted to play Ricardo in a more advanced position for a long time.” The 27-year-old’s substitution signalled the end of the east Midlands side’s attacking play, as Daniel Amartey was called upon to shore the defensive line.
A tricky mid-week fixture beckons, as Slavia Prague make the trip to Leicester. With Maddison’s potential absence and the busy period continuing, expect to see a different style of football on show. Today showed Leicester’s flexibility in adopting an alternative approach when needed.