It was a fun watch for Leicester City fans today, which we haven’t seen in a while. The foxes drew 1-1 in an exciting clash against Brentford. It was a slow start for Brendan Rodgers’ side. Thomas Frank and his boys dominated at home in the Gtech Community Stadium. Leicester could not register a shot on target and Brentford was strong in possession. Their only goal of the game came in the 32’ from a set piece; shocker.
However, the east midlands side looked rejuvenated in the second half. The counter-attack was strong and they had Brentford looking nervous. It would all come together for our side in the 52’ when Harvey Barnes would score our only goal. The rest of the second half consisted of back-and-forth action with neither side being unable to test the goalkeeper. This is Leicester’s first positive game in a while as the last time the side took home points was February 11th against Tottenham Hotspur. So what should we take away from this game?
No reliable ‘keeper this season
We’ll start with the negative news first. Unfortunately for us and our relegation race, it is a massive one. We have no goalkeeper we can trust to be in between the posts. We’re in for trouble unless Alex Smithies is randomly a Kasper Schmeichel ‘regen’. Rodgers decided to give the 25-year-old Daniel Iversen the start today over Danny Ward. I was not impressed by this performance in the slightest.
The goal Iversen allowed was a real stinker. The danish keeper dove the completely wrong way on the shot attempt. Simply clueless goalkeeping. If he dove the right way we could have easily taken three points from this game. Luckily for us, he wasn’t tested by Brentford for the rest of the game. It will be interesting to see if Rodgers sticks Iversen or Ward in goal for our next game. It is a must-win relegation battle against Crystal Palace.
Harry Souttar and Harvey Barnes looked brilliant
If your name started with an H, you had a fantastic game today. Harry Souttar had a couple of rocky games but he stepped up big time today in the absence of Wout Faes. Brentford could not find a way past the giant. He left this game with Ivan Toney in his back pocket. That is no easy thing to do. Along with that, his statistics were brilliant. Eight clearances, Five recoveries, two interceptions, one block, 6/6 aerial duals won, and 4/5 ground duals won. Along with a fantastic defensive display, he went 4/5 on accurate long balls and had 5 passes into the final third. Arguably Souttar’s best game of the season.
Harvey Barnes carried on the offensive end. His only game had David Raya and the rest of the Brentford backline scrambling to save it. Barnes has really turned his form around and has easily been one of our most vital players this season. He has managed to contribute 9 goals in his 25 Premier League appearances.
If James Maddison does leave us in the summer transfer window, I’m confident in the other England international being the attacker we can rely on.
Leicester City has the capability to stay up
This should seem obvious however, we haven’t seen it in the past couple of games. Brentford is one of the stronger teams in the Premier League and we matched up well against them. Our counterattack was really dangerous. I hope Rodgers can find a way to utilize it in his future game plans. Along with that, Souttar played his best game of the season. With Jonny Evans soon to come back, we may have a dangerous pairing with him and Souttar. The foxes were able to create chances today. We just need to finish our dinner. I see the potential brewing with this side. I just hope we find a way to finish the season strong.
This is no April fools joke. I confidently believe Leicester can walk away with three points against Crystal Palace on April 1st. This is a side scrambling to find a new manager. They’re in a complete mess. This has to be a side we take advantage of.