Foxes of Leicester
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Gillingham 0-1 Leicester: 3 things FoL learned

By Damon Carter

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This image has been converted into black and white) Caglar Soyuncu and Jannik Vestergaard of Leicester City before the Emirates FA Cup Third Round match vs Gillingham (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This image has been converted into black and white) Caglar Soyuncu and Jannik Vestergaard of Leicester City before the Emirates FA Cup Third Round match vs Gillingham (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images) /
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Will Wright of Gillingham competes for a header with Kelechi Iheanacho of Leicester City (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images) /

Kelechi Iheanacho adds another cup goal but will he ever be a starter

In the 56th minute, McAteer found space to cut the ball back for a familiar face to gleefully hammer the ball into the unguarded net for what turned out to be the winning goal. So just what is it with Kelechi Iheanacho and FA cup goals? He has now racked up 16 and is currently sat in the top 20 of all-time FA Cup goalscorers. Part of the reason for this is down to him consistently being used as an alternative option to the regular starters in the Premier League.

This tendency reaped the greatest rewards in 2021 when Kelechi was arguably the most important player in Leicester City’s victorious FA Cup run. He doesn’t just stop at FA Cup goals either, he has nine League Cup goals and six in European competitions. With a career total of 70 goals split into 38 EPL finishes and 32 in other competitions, it proves that the Nigeria international just loves scoring no matter who he plays against.

But even after being the club’s top goalscorer in the 2020-2021 season, Iheanacho has struggled to cement a first-team place. Part of that is his own inconsistency which could even be seen in this game as he finds doing simple hold-up play a mystery and choosing the right options difficult. Part of it is also Brendan’s reluctance to play two up front where he thrived in his top-scoring season.

With options running thin it might be time for Brendan to consider Kelechi out wide on the right of his more favoured three, where the east Midlands side have struggled to find a regular starter. There will now be another FA Cup game for Kelechi to extend his good FA Cup form but it remains to be seen if he will extend his Premier League tally. There is a burning question he might want to ask himself – is Leicester City the best place for him to succeed in the coming years?