Leicester City: Ademola Lookman vs Ayoze Perez

Aside from having very good creative numbers last season and also showing a preference of scoring instead of creating, there’s a specific stat that Lookman shone in which is extremely important for the Foxes and that’s in relation to his dribbling. I constantly fill my articles and threads with the idea that Leicester City lack players willing to bypass an opponent in a one-versus-one scenario by dribbling, or carrying, the ball. When it’s brought down to its most basic form, dribbling past an opponent removes them from the defensive phase and in an era dominated by high-presses and “man-for-man” marking, this is extremely valuable.

Ademola Lookman was the sixth best player for the “players dribbled past” metric, totalling 87 successful take-ons versus an opposition. In the exact same campaign (Premier League 2020/21), the best performer for Leicester City was Youri Tielemans with 45 — while both wide players (Ayoze Pérez and Harvey Barnes) managed 31 and 28 respectively. Adding this dimension to attacks for the Foxes is greatly beneficial and creates a two-dimensional attacking approach, rather than being limited to just passing through the opposition — like Rodgers’ side have been forced to this season, and have shown real signs of creating in these fixtures.

However, with all of this considered, where does the England youth-international actually fit into the Foxes system? Well, he’s spent the majority of his career operating on the left-side of midfield, but this won’t be the case with Leicester City. I’m fairly confident that his flexibility in positions — which has seen him play anywhere across the front three (behind the forward), is one of the crucial assets that attracted Brendan Rodgers’ interest. Look at some of his previous signings for the Foxes; James Justin and Timothy Castagne, and you’ll see this is a highly sort after requirement.