Leicester City battered newly promoted side Nottingham Forest 4-0 in a classic East Midlands derby. Here are the three who impressed most that night.
Eight games played, four points gained, no longer bottom of the Premier League. A much improved King Power side finally achieved their first win of the campaign, and they did it in style. Even Brendan Rodgers appeared far more passionate and far better.
Two goals from James Maddison, a precise strike from Harvey Barnes, and a signature flick from Patson Daka were enough to claim all three points. A low xG affair in which Forest should have scored at least once, what a fantastic result it was.
With that being said, here are the three players I feel performed best. I’ll try to keep the suggestions to different kinds of players and roles.
Leicester City’s No.10
In midfield, who else than the man of the match? Who else than our architect and maestro. ‘Madders’ was omnipresent and threatening throughout the fixture until he was withdrawn, likely as a protective measure.
Two goals, and assist, and four killer passes. The underlying stats speak for themselves. As per Sofascore, the artist also accumulated (these stats do not necessarily refer to actual quantity) 15 total ground duels, two tackles, two interceptions, and imposed himself on the game with 76 touches. Truly awe inspiring from the Fox.
Throughout the battle, Maddison would take on midfielders and defenders with tricky technical displays and fine passing acumen. As can be expected, the difficulty of defending against the English midfielder is that in making a challenge, you will almost certainly concede a foul. This was devastating during the match.
The wanted midfielder scored a solid 10/10 for me. The only thing which could have been better was not getting the yellow card and possibly another goal or assist. I cannot complain about the performance.
Our Belgian defender
At the back, Wout Faes once again impressed. Stylistically, physically, and mentally, the player imposes himself on matches and upon attackers. He does what he has to do to ensure a dangerous situation is snuffed out, or attempts to get into a pressing position.
We saw that multiple times, and as per the same Sofascore stats, we can see he made three tackles, one interception, and a total of seven aerial duels. I would contend this has been the most impressive addition to the team: that aerial presence that can command and extinguish danger.
Multiple times we saw the player aggressively charge down and press an attacker about to receive the ball. This is that danger sense I have spoken about. Often, this forces the opposition to quickly recycle the possession, or at the very least causes a regressive action to protect the ball; otherwise, Wout would likely win the ball.
I would rate his performance 8/10: although, we should come to expect this level of aggression from our defenders. At this time, Faes is a breath of Belgian fresh air for the squad. Hopefully this form will continue.
An English winger
Harvey Barnes. Need I say anymore? From constant aggression to a revitalised challenge against right-backs, the pacy left-winger once again showed why the Foxes handed the player an improved contract. Additionally, the return to his typical style really showed this match.
Scoring a goal, the English forward really could have scored more. With some of the chances created, some of the shots made, more could have been done to challenge Dean Henderson. Yet still, the performance showed a return to his usual quality.
When receiving the ball, Barnes would immediately look forward, and should he be able to beat his man, the young winger would run at them; otherwise, Barnes worked well with James Justin, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and Madders to create overloads and push forward down the wings. I was very happy with his involvement.
On top of this, Rodgers clearly relayed to Barnes the need to pass when at an acute angle to the goal: previously, the player would first look to shoot. In doing so, the winger would lose a possible opportunity for another player. This time, he linked up with running midfielders and Jamie Vardy fairly well. A 7/10 performance in my books.