After ten months of hard-fought football, excellent results and crushing defeats, Leicester City’s 2021-22 Premier League season comes to an end on Sunday. Whilst the Foxes won’t be involved with the type of drama and despair that the last two campaigns saw, they will still want to end with a high.
The final day will see Manchester City and Liverpool fight for the chance to win the league title, whilst Leeds and Burnley’s scrap for Premier League safety is another key headline. Because of this, neutrals may look at Leicester’s game against mathematically safe Southampton as an end of season dead-rubber, but this is far from the case.
With both sides being able to change positions in the table, neither will want to relent and give over to the other. For Southampton it is a chance to rescue some positivity from quite a dismal season, meanwhile Leicester will be aiming to give their fans a good performance as they look ahead to next year.
It will be a tough battle, aside from the 9-0 drubbing, the Foxes’ games against Southampton usually are edgy affairs, but the momentum is firmly on the side of the East Midlander’s. So, without further ado, here are FoL’s three reasons why Leicester City will beat Southampton on the final day of the Premier League:
A last Leicester City goodbye
A lot has been made of the upcoming summer rebuild, and several players will be trying to prove why they should still be in Brendan Rodger’s plans for next season (we’ll get onto this later), however there are a few players who already look destined to leave, and will want to end their Leicester City careers in the best way possible.
The most notable departure, whilst still not confirmed yet by either the player or the club, is Youri Tielemans, The Belgian missed the 1-1 draw away at Chelsea on Thursday but is expected to be back on Sunday for his final appearance in Leicester blue. Having played 156 time for the Foxes since his arrival in 2019, the midfielder will be looking to add to his 24 goals as a final gift for the fans.
Whilst his form has been mixed this season, Tielemans has added so much quality to the midfield in the last three and a half seasons and has scored some belting goals. The no.8 is a modern-day Leicester legend and should be treated as such on Sunday. I’d expect a standing ovation for him, it’s nothing less than our Starman deserves.
Aside from Tielemans, we could be seeing a final game for Ademola Lookman at the King Power. The Telegraph are reporting that, whilst Rodgers is very fond of the winger, it will cost around £14m to aquire the Nigerian’s services on a permanentt deal. Usually, that figure wouldn’t price Leicester out, however their money and resources will be primarily focused on signing a new CB, CM and RW.
If there is still the money left after this business, then Lookman will likely make the permanent switch from RB Leipzig, but this is highly dependent on other factors. Lookman has been a real bright spark for supporters this season and still has the potential to be better. He’ll be wanting to end with a display to prove why Leicester can’t afford to miss out on him.
Finally, it looks as if Ayoze Perez will depart the club in order to generate funds this summer. Ayoze has frustrated fans with his inconsistency, but this wasn’t helped by Rodgers playing him out of his favoured position for his first year at the club. Still, we have seen Perez’s quality with his hat-trick against Southampton in that famous 9-0, and he played a crucial part in the FA Cup final goal last year.
He has never been able to truly justify his £30m price-tag in his 99 appearances for the club, but his grit and determination whilst pressing from the front should be applauded. He’ll be hoping that he can make a century of outings for the club on Sunday, as well as getting another goal against the Saints.
A point to prove
It’s won’t just be the three players departing he club in the summer. This campaign has highlighted the faults and flaws in the current squad, something that Rodgers will be desperate to fix. Sunday provides one last chance for players to prove themselves and their position at the club to both the manager, and the fans.
Of those, the main culprit is Caglar Soyuncu. Unable to replicate his astounding form in the 2019-2020 season, Cags has endured a second season of disappointing performances and errors in the back line. The injuries to Evans and Fofana provided an opportunity for him to make the starting centre-back role his own, instead he has been outshone by teammate Daniel Amartey.
Personally, I don’t think Soyuncu will get a chance to play on Sunday – injury provided of course – but even so, Soyuncu must prove himself in training or face a potential exit. Not many would be shocked to see him sold to generate further summer funds. He could still get one last shot, let’s see if he takes it.
Other players who face uncertain futures are Papy Mendy, Kelechi Iheanacho and Kasper Schmeichel. Mendy has been a useful asset to Rodgers over the last few years but hasn’t received the game-time that he wants, especially when Ndidi is fit.
Iheanacho has struggled for consistent starts after his incredible performances last season, instead with Rodgers opting to play Daka when Vardy has been unavailable. When he has played though, he looks less confident in his overall play compared to what we saw in 2021.
If a sizeable offer came in for him, I’d imagine there would be a temptation to cash in. Sunday could be pivotal for him to prove why he deserves to be a part of the squad next season.
As for Schmeichel, I don’t think there is any risk of him being sold, but his position as the undoubted starting goalkeeper is under threat. Fans have seen the weaknesses that the big Dane has in his game, including his inability to deal with crosses.
The surprise selection of Danny Ward against Watford offered an opportunity to see what a Schmeichel-less Leicester team would look like, and the Welshman looked comfortable between the sticks. Along with Ward, the returning Daniel Iverson may have something to say about the goalkeeper pecking order.
Having recently won three player of the season awards with Preston, Iverson will be hoping that he gets the chance to prove why he should be playing in the Premier League next season, or else he’ll almost certainly depart – the Lancashire Post are already reporting that promotion-chasing Middlesbrough are keen on him. The slightest error could be costly for the current Foxes captain; it’ll be a big one for him on Sunday.
A positive end to a poor campaign
Whilst this season has been largely disappointing for Brendan Rodgers and his men, Sunday offers a real chance of ending on a high. The Foxes have built up some much-needed momentum of late, with big wins against Norwich and Watford. The point against Chelsea also saw one of the best defensive performances of late from the squad.
The players are in great form, especially Jamie Vardy and James Maddison. Maddison will be wanting to put on a show as he aims to be re-selected by Gareth Southgate ahead of the international summer games whilst Vardy is chasing 150 Premier League goals.
A win for Leicester and a loss for Wolves against title-chasing Liverpool would see the Foxes switch places with their Midlands counter-parts and claim 8th place. To finish that high after some truly dire displays would be a great credit to the miniature turn-around of form that Rodgers has been able to bring.
Sure, 8th won’t make up for the Roma loss, the Nottingham Forest embarrassment, or the penalties loss to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup, but it would generate a good feeling around fans as they look for a return to European football next season.
If Leicester were to lose on Sunday, and if other results were to go against them, then the Foxes could drop as low as 12th in the table. This would be disastrous for the squad and would cast a doubtful shadow over Rodgers’ summer project. It is crucial that this doesn’t happen.
It will be a tough game, no matter what the table suggests. Whilst the Foxes are in good form, the Saints have lost three league games on the spin, though they did push Liverpool close on Tuesday in their 2-1 loss. Historically, Leicester have only beaten Southampton twice at the King Power since 2016, however they were victorious the last time the Saints came to visit, scoring twice in a 2-0 victory. The players will be wanting to repay the fans’ patience that they have shown throughout this season with a rousing win – hopefully attached with a clean sheet. Bring on the Saints.