Arsenal 2-0 Leicester: Three things we learned in defeat

With this in mind, I still thought we missed the Nigerian’s positioning in possession. When deployed as the defensive-midfielder, Ndidi rarely strays from the base of midfield, sitting centrally and always offering a reserved passing lane. At times, it’s best that the Foxes ignore his option — especially if he’s going to receive under pressure — but, his positioning is always fixed and enables players to understand where he is at all times.

Contrast this with Mendy, who’s constantly on the move to receive possession, even dropping between the two centre-backs to selflessly allow others to advance up the pitch. Against Arsenal, there was a lack of a fixed defensive-midfield presence in the building stage of possession, as Mendy made these varying movements to unlock others, he removed himself from an area of great importance for the Foxes. When he receives, he’s much more astute and is capable of taking the ball despite being pressured by the opponents, but without a fixed positioning in the core of the midfield, a lot of the building phase was spent recycling the ball across the defensive line awaiting an opportunity to play vertically.

I’m not suggesting Ndidi would’ve offered this retention and passing lane versus Arsenal. But, he would’ve sat in the central avenue of the pitch and that provides a platform for the two roaming box-to-box players to position themselves in relation to the defensive-midfielder.