Burnley 0-2 Leicester: 3 Things Foxes of Leicester learned

Oh how we’ve needed this, Leicester City’s first Premier League win of the year at Burnley was warmly greeted by the Foxes faithful. So what three things did we learn?

Brendan Rodgers’ substitutes were spot on

The headlines will be easily written across all the news outlets: ‘Superstar substitutes win Leicester the game’. Or a pretty close derivative. At 72 minutes, with the game poised at 0-0, Rodgers brought on James Maddison and the much-missed Jamie Vardy for them to go on and score two late goals and bring home the points. What was significant about this change was that this was the Northern Irishman making a positive move towards a victorious contest.

Only a few games ago the boss was guilty of withdrawing an attacking central-midfield duo for defensive personnel. That miscalculation jeopardised three points versus West Ham United. The difference here was that the match was heading for stalemate so pushing for a win might seem more relevant in the manager’s mind. He might need to keep those positive changes in mind for future games – regardless of the scoreline.

Leicester City performances are improving

Although results haven’t been ideal in the EPL, there has definitely been a vital improvement in the levels of displays recently. For long parts against West Ham, the East Midlanders started to look dangerous. Not to mention were arguably the better team against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Regardless of what the outcome may have been against Burnley, the Foxes deserved what they attained.

Leicester forced Nick Pope into some truly incredible saves from Ricardo Pereira and a couple from Harvey Barnes. Chances are being created – and, at last, are starting to be taken. This could be the corner that we have waiting for City to turn all season.

Best defensive performance of the season

Anyone who regularly reads these articles (cheers, mum) will have seen me bemoan the defending on far too many occasions. It was a huge pleasure to report a protective display worthy of the win in Lancashire. Although not perfect by any means, with a couple of scary moments from a disallowed Maxwel Cornet goal, as well as a misfired one-on-one.

On the whole there were strong defensive shifts all around. Most notably from the centre-backs Caglar Soyuncu; who was uncharacteristically steady. Along with Daniel Amartey; the Ghanaian looked strong and calm under pressure. The defending from set-pieces will be what caught the eye most, with a clear structure of man marking and chiefly attacking the ball.

What might have Leicester fans hoping of better times, is how relaxed the Foxes seemed under pressure. A feature that hasn’t been prevalent all campaign, which possibly explains why this was only LCFC’s second away clean sheet of 2021/22. Here’s hoping for many more as the season expires.