How does Rodgers find a system with wingers for Leicester?

Brendan Rodgers showed how difficult of a dilemma it is for Leicester City to field wingers in their current iteration. His starting XI against Arsenal didn’t include a single winger, but his double change at the break included both Harvey Barnes and Ademola Lookman. So, how and why did he make it work?

Leicester weren’t good enough in the first half against Arsenal, and found themselves (deservedly) two goals down at the break. A shift in personnel — and system — was the reaction from Rodgers, who had initially opted for a 3-4-1-2 with only wing-backs providing width.

The adjustment facilitated a switch in structure, to the established 4-3-3, and the simplistic narrative of the fixture would suggest the Foxes performed better in the second-half, thus meaning this formation was better. However, as much as I agree with this sentiment (for this fixture specifically), I do also believe the game state — of which Arsenal were comfortably ahead — did tweak both sides offensive aggressiveness in the match, and this does aid a somewhat false narrative.

The stark differences in performance were marginally down to the switch in structure, more predominantly down to the personnel included off the bench, and quite heavily weighted by Arsenal resistance to press high (due to their lead) and consequently conceding space and time to the Foxes — something they weren’t afforded in the opening 45 minutes.