Explaining the importance of Lookman as a permanent signing

Anyhow, the game against Wolves served as another successful extract in Lookman’s left-side deployments. Noticeably, he subsidised the ball-carrying of Barnes, and looked to make a lot of high attacking runs — a tactical nuance Rodgers utilised in conjunction with Çağlar Söyüncü’s long passing, to pinpoint Max Kilman on the defensive right. This reception was the lone progressive option the Foxes managed to use in chance creation, as Bruno Lage’s side negated any pathways through the central areas of the pitch.

It’s not quite as simple as just receiving the ball behind Kilman and creating from there, Lookman would also have to contest with right-wing-back, Nelson Semedo. The former Barcelona wing-back is well-known for his blistering pace, albeit focused mainly on activating in attacking transitions, rather than covering defensively. But occasionally, the long ball into Lookman would be goal-side of just the wing-back requiring a take-on/dribble versus the wide CB of Kilman.

Upon signing Lookman in the summer, I noted how impressive his carrying and dribbling numbers have been in previous endeavours with Fulham, RB Leipzig, and Everton, and was pleased to see a player with his profile join a King Power side lacking that exact style — the team have also added Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and re-found a resurgent James Maddison with these characteristics since. It’s probably unsurprising that Lookman led the tie for successful dribbles (7) but impressively led the entire Premier League for them in the recent gameweek.