How Leicester boss can correct midfield and attack mistakes

For the third time in three games, Brendan Rodgers selected a different formation for his Leicester City starting XI — highlighting the strength of his Foxes squad, but also his indifference towards who should be starters.

At the Amex Stadium, it was a 4-3-3 structure, which is a fairly different composition to the setups Brendan Rodgers has been utilising with Leicester. Most notably, it was three central-midfielders; Wilfred Ndidi, Youri Tielemans, and Boubakary Soumaré, with the former two being stalwarts for the Foxes and the latter adding a different dimension in midfield.

This trifecta enabled a different forward line for Rodgers, this included James Maddison playing as a “false” right-winger. Instead of utilising him as a number 10/attacking-midfielder, he was placed on the right-side of the front three — alongside Harvey Barnes and Jamie Vardy.

For the defence, it was fairly simplistic in its approach. Pairing Jannik Vestergaard (left centre-back) with Ryan Bertrand (left-back) was smart from Rodgers as the pre-established relationship the two players had from their former club, Southampton, utilised the chemistry they already possessed. Adding Çaglar Söyüncü and Ricardo Pereira on the right-side was conventional.

The starting XI wasn’t overly dysfunctional, although playing James Maddison in this semi right-winger, semi central attacking-midfielder role wasn’t the correct decision. This wasn’t even hindsight, this was the first note I made for the entire fixture — especially with a brilliant option on the substitute bench in summer signing, Ademola Lookman.