Burton 0-0 Leicester: Quick takeaways from Foxes’ first pre-season game

Leicester City kickstarted their 2021/22 season with a trip to the Pirelli Stadium to face Burton Albion, in the first of four pre-season games ahead of the match versus Manchester City in the Community Shield.

A brief preface before the article, there shouldn’t be much, if any, stock put into performances or tactical deployments during pre-season. However, you can see the start of relationships between new signings, and roles. I will dissect a couple of these — different to those in my Twitter thread — throughout this piece.

Firstly, the starting centre-back composition, Çağlar Söyüncü and Wesley Fofana. Touted as being the most “skilled” partnership at the club, it was one of only a few times they’ve started together — and the first in a central two. This is due to their similarly proactive play styles, often requiring a mature head in Jonny Evans to dictate the positioning of the back line.

From viewing, it seemed as if Söyüncü took the responsibility of orchestrating the line — while Fofana remained the eager, front-footed defender the Leicester fans have become accustomed too. I’m unsure if Evans was injured, hence not being included, but he’s definitely still a starting defender for the Foxes when fit — as the balance in the composition is much better with his involvement.

This next one is potentially reading between the lines slightly, but Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s importance to the squad could’ve been outlined by the fact he was a set-piece taker for the second-half. This was in absence of James Maddison, Youri Tielemans, and Marc Albrighton — so the majority of the starting takers weren’t available.

Outside of this responsibility, he was also the “dictator” of play throughout possession sequences. Ordinarily, this is Tielemans’ role within the starting XI — but there somewhat similar profiles allowed the academy graduate to seamlessly transition into this role, whilst allowing Dewbsury-Hall to create a good starting relationship with Wilfred Ndidi (something Tielemans also has).

Lastly, the utilisation of two forwards (structurally) might be the option for the Foxes. Patson Daka starting the first-half as the sole striker, allowed Brendan Rodgers’ to field Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho together upfront in the second. I would suggest that the Zambian striker is probably behind Vardy in the pecking order, but perhaps ahead of Iheanacho — due to his fee/record, but when opting for a pairing, the pre-established connection between Vardy and Iheanacho is edging them as starters.

There were a few other observations I noted — like the idea that Rodgers utilised left-footed right wingers in both halves (outlining a transfer requirement), but I also want to emphasise just how little impact results, and in most cases performances, have during pre-season — particularly the first game. It’s much more about sharpness, building relationships, and working towards the opening day of the season.

It might have been a goalless draw, but the foundations of the pre-season were nicely placed. Leicester City maintained possession with a good tempo, pressed fairly effectively, and looked threatening against a Burton Albion side playing their fourth game of pre-season. Up next for the Foxes is Wycombe Wanderers on Wednesday — another good chance for minutes, perhaps slightly soon for the majority of the EURO 2020 contenders.