Leicester City 0-3 Chelsea: 3 Things we learned
By Will Kennedy
The Chelsea game wasn’t a huge highlight on the Foxes’ issues at scoring from set pieces, it was business as usual to be honest but there will be games where this will be an issue, but my word, defending from them is a huge issue.
For the last few seasons, conceding from corners has been the Achilles heel for Leicester. The exact stats aren’t clear, but last season Leicester would have been in the highest for goals conceded from corners – at least it felt like that.
When starting a game, especially one against Chelsea, it’s important that you don’t give away any preventable goals and keep a sturdy defence. On 14 minutes the Foxes conceded a corner, there were nerves, but this was a chance for Leicester to establish some aerial dominance. They didn’t.
Antonio Rudiger shook off Daniel Amartey and the desperate Timothy Castagne was helpless in trying to out-jump the German centre back. The header was strong and impressive, but preventable. Oh so preventable. It’s not the first time Rudiger has haunted City – he scored both goals at the King Power in a 2-2 draw in 2020 as well as scoring, from a header, in the 2-1 loss at Stamford Bridge last season; the game that was key in Leicester missing out on Champions League football.
Coming into this game, Chelsea had scored a league-high of 4 headed goals so far this season, within 15 minutes that number was 5. From that point onwards, Leicester faced a losing battle.
Perhaps the most frustratingg thing about this issue, is that Brendan Rodgers never truly addresses it in the media. He never acknowledges that it’s a serious issue for Leicester. For him, and the team, to kick on from this recent rut, they have to be honest about all of their flaws.
The solution to this? Get a specific set piece coach/tactician into the coaching set-up. A few years ago, Liverpool hired a coach specifically for throw-ins. It was widely joked about from rivals, but it worked. In sport, the phrase marginal gains is thrown around. Leicester City could really do with some of those.