Fofana, Evans, Soyuncu, Amartey – who starts for Leicester?

Leicester City have a selection headache as Wesley Fofana and Jonny Evans make their return to the side. Here is who should start and who should not.

Before this season, the King Power club were excited for what was to come. With Caglar Soyuncu, Fofana, and Evans as starters, and Daniel Amartey and Jannik Vestergaard as rotation options. However palpable, the excitement was not to last.

The stalwart Northern Irishman was injured, the wonderkid Frenchman was injured in a cruel pre-season challenge, the tall Dane was injured before he could get off the starting line, and the Turkish international was thrown into the deep end as the backline leader.

This injury-ridden disaster is finally close to an end. Evans was on the bench against Brentford in the Foxes’ previous fixture, and Fofana played against Rennes in the UEFA Conference League. This is who has to start and what you the fans think.

Leicester City must stick with Caglar Soyuncu

Leicester supporters will grimace at the season starter Caglar Soyuncu has had. Since being thrust into an uncontested starting spot, the Turk has struggled with the pressure of leading the back while also contributing a good defensive performance.

With a myriad of goal-conceding errors, things could have gone much better. Yet I feel we have short term memory regarding the Turkish defender. When contained within a stable partnership, the player thrives from trust with his partner.

We have seen this improvement in recent weeks between ‘Cags’ and ‘Big Dan’. The Ghanaian international has been nothing short of a revelation since joining the starting XI. His rise has been remarkable.

Nevertheless, let us look at some statistics. So, using Sofascore, we can identify where each of them fall in contribution to Leicester’s setup at the back.The Turk has made 1.2 interceptions, 1.7 tackles, and 4.2 clearances per game, as well as having a total of 5.7 successful duels across the season (these numbers are do not refer to the actual number of occasions each happen).

The Ghanaian by comparison has 1.0 interceptions, 0.9 tackles, and 4.0 clearances per game, as well as making 2.8 successful duels across the season. As can be seen, ‘Cags’ has been more involved and has put in more for the side. It is only due to his ever-presence that he appears to make more errors.

The obvious choice

Amongst supporters, there is one partnership which stands above the rest as significantly more desirable than any other option. Unfortunately, the Danish centre-back has had no place in any of these discussions. Please let Foxes of Leicester know who you think should be starting on this poll below, and if you think Vestergaard should be starting to place some Danish flags in the comments.

According to this poll, the returning Evans plus Fofana should make up the starting backline for the Foxes. There are obvious reasons for this collective belief in the two great defenders. I doubt there is a need to dwell on them too much.

Evans is a leader and Fofana is our inspiration. From the depths of poor defending and despair, these two offer a glimmer of hope. In the most startling example, the French CB scored on his return debut against Rennes.

They are the obvious and most useful partnership Brendan Rodgers could call upon. Yet, as has already been stated, this is not what I would do. That being said, I believe the individual to be omitted from my starting line-up is obvious.

A conservative view

Using your best is not always the best solution. The issue is when your best is an injury liability and utterly crucial to the way in which you play during their playtime. This is the case with the Northern Irish international.

I will always back Evans when he plays, and I will always say the defender is more assured and experienced than any other of our options. Therefore, the stalwart should feature when the Foxes need the player most: those matches against the Chelsea’s, Manchester United’s, and any critical cup competitions.

Hence, my recommendation is to stick with Turkish international Caglar Soyuncu alongside the inspirational Wesley Fofana. This would provide Cags with the stable world-class partner which he needs to take the severe pressure off him and provides the benefits of improving the danger sense of the side.

This is Daniel Amartey’s main weakness, though it is also the element of his game he has improved the most under Rodgers’ tutorship. Being able to sense danger and snuff it out with a quick disruptive action or interception is something he is doing more of, but still not enough of.

This is a conservative way of using our whole squad. We have the strength in depth when all our defenders are available to choose different systems and different options dependent upon our opposition. The gaffer must be prepared to tinker when needed, but keep these two consistently working together.