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

The issues of fielding both Kelechi Iheanacho and James Maddison

In a recent article, linked here, I spoke about the inherent benefits of adding either Kelechi Iheanacho or James Maddison into the Leicester City starting XI. Without them, there’s a lack of progressive passing lanes staggered through the pitch — as both players enjoy manipulating the spaces between the lines. However, my caveat was that they shouldn’t play together, and the performance this past weekend further illustrates my point.

To start the match, the Foxes seemed to play in an attacking 4-4-1-1 formation, which had Iheanacho as the striker and Maddison operating just behind him. With the two of them offering similar roles, albeit, in different positions, neither could get into the game. Unsurprisingly for a striker in Rodgers’ system, Iheanacho had the fewest touches in the side and was closely followed by Maddison.

In an attempt to fix this issue, Rodgers reverted to the 4-3-3 structure and moved the Englishman to the right-side of the midfield-three. In essence, he became a box-to-box, but with little regard for defensive qualities, especially considering he’d adjust his positioning to aid the 4-4-2 defensive shape the Foxes used. By moving him away from the central areas, Iheanacho had room to drop into the areas he likes, and there was a period of twenty minutes (closing out the first-half) where the game’s momentum shifted into the away-sides favour.