Foxes of Leicester
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Man City 3-1 Leicester: Foxes player ratings

By Joey LeMaster

Leicester City's Nigerian midfielder Wilfred Ndidi (R)(Photo by LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP via Getty Images)
Leicester City's Nigerian midfielder Wilfred Ndidi (R)(Photo by LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP via Getty Images) /
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It was a tough challenge for Dean Smith in his first come with Leicester City. Against the second place Manchester City, his side lost 3-1. It was a horrendous first half in Etihad Stadium when Leicester went down 3-0 25 minutes into the game. However, the second half gave us more promise.

It was a significant formation change with Smith running the show. He decided to run a 5311 off the ball with an interchangeable system. Daniel Iversen remained in goal however, he had a five back in front of him instead of a four back. That wasn’t even the biggest surprise. For the first time since October, Çağlar Söyüncü made a start for the foxes. Timothy Castagne, Harry Souttar, Wout Faes, and Victor Kristiansen joined him in the back five. Youri Tielemans returned to the starting eleven as our captain with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Wilfred Ndidi, and James Maddison joining him in the midfield. Then LCFC legend Jamie Vardy was the sole striker up top.

Pep Guardiola came into the game with a 3241 formation. Ederson was their main man between the sticks as Kyle Walker, Rúben Dias, and Aymeric Laporte defended in front of him. John Stones and Rodri were holding midfielders while the next line consisted of former Leicester hero Riyad Mahrez, captain Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, and Jack Grealish. Then the always-threatening Erling Haaland was the sole striker up top.

Man City got the scoring off early in the 5’ minute. After a couple of headers around the box, Stones received it on the line and would volley the ball off of his weak foot, and would send it top bins. Very unfortunate luck for the east midlands side. The city would then get a penalty in the 13’ minute after an awful handball from Ndidi. Haaland would then finish the penalty to make it 2-0. The first half of clapping would not stop there. Haaland would find a goal in the 25’ when he dusted past the defense and slotted the ball in the bottom right corner.

It was a tough second half as well which saw the visitors make multiple substitutions for players who don’t get a lot of playing time. However, a 75’ corner from Maddison saw the ball get header by Souttar which would fall short of the goal. Substitute Kelechi Iheanacho would then tap the ball in to make the game a two-goal deficit. Momentum would really shift for the foxes after this. Madison stole the ball from Dias and almost scored a goal if it wasn’t saved by Ederson. Then in the 90’ Iheanacho had a shot that hit the inside of the post. Leicester had a real chance to pull off the miracle comeback, but they fell short losing 3-1.