Leicester 4-1 Tottenham: 3 things we learned

Victor Kristiansen is the leader the XI needed for years

In the absence of Youri Tielemans, Maddison was given the captain’s armband and the Englishman was well suited to the responsibility. But the revelation in the last two games for the east Midlanders has been young Danish left-back Viktor Kristiansen, a player we never knew we needed so badly. When he cleared a misplaced Iheanacho header from under the bar he punched the net in triumph, showing a passion for defending we haven’t seen for some time. Early on the fresh Fox was barking orders at his defence to push up to the halfway line to test a Spurs side lacking in pace. In addition to helping Wout Faes concentrate his energies on Harry Kane.

Tellingly, Kristiansen also gave Barnes an ear-bashing for not pushing down the left flank enough in the first half. Kristiansen showed how to do it when he pressed with aggression – almost to make a point. This is something Barnes has needed for a long time! It didn’t take the winger long to get the message as he caused all sorts of problems for the opposition in the second half. The England-capped player atoned for the nonsense of his first goal chalked off by placing in an even better finish late on.

But Kristiansen was a key part of this success with overlapping runs and link-up play that Barnes has sorely needed. The fullback had the most touches of all Leicester players and is fast proving to be a crucial signing as Leicester City lift themselves away from the bottom three. Admittedly he made a mess of one clearance that led to to Rodrigo Bentancur’s opener, but Kristiansen is young and will learn and grow into a great player and maybe even a captain of the future.