Randers 1-3 Leicester City: 3 Things learned from UEFA Conference League

Kelechi Iheanacho and Patson Daka work better as a Leicester City duo

It’s purely down to structures and formations, but Leicester City hasn’t tried Patson Daka and Kelechi Iheanacho as a striking duo in the Premier League this season. As stated, formations such as the 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 only allow a single forward, and the brief attempts with two forwards have always included Jamie Vardy. But, I think both players would suit by having a partner, and here’s why.

Firstly, Patson Daka’s impressive numbers last season came from playing in a 4-2-2-2 formation alongside Mërgim Berisha. They had a good understanding and inside the relationship, Daka was the finisher. He’d consciously play on the defensive line and look to burst onto passes through the lines, whereas Berisha was the creative player. Tall enough to be used as a slight “holdup” man, he could also drop into the attacking-midfield space and receive before looking to connect — at times with Daka.

So, you have this pre-established successful partnership that Daka thrived inside of, all you need is a player with a similar profile to drop into spaces like a traditional 10 would and also have the presence to score goals when required. Well, look no further than Kelechi Iheanacho. The Nigerian has arguably preferred his time playing as a deeper forward and relished the opportunity of having a sprinting frontman, Jamie Vardy, alongside him last season.

All the data and eye-testing I’ve done suggests they’d be a very good fit as a striking two. Of course, within this structure, you either play a back-three and go for something like the 3-4-1-2 (with James Maddison as the “one”), or an asymmetrical 4-4-2 — although with that, deciding on the midfield pivot is impossible with Youri Tielemans, Wilfred Ndidi, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and James Maddison all fighting for just two positions.

That’s probably why Brendan Rodgers hasn’t toyed with playing Iheanacho and Daka together, it’s too difficult to formulate the positions behind them. If he could figure out this conundrum, I would be excited by the idea of the aforementioned forwards playing together.