Fans of all the teams embroiled in the relegation fight, perhaps with the exception of Southampton, will no doubt be wrapped up in a whirlwind of emotions, with a cocktail of doubt, anxiety, trepidation, pessimism and optimism. This is especially true for those inside the King Power Stadium last night, as Leicester City and Everton battled out a pulsating stalemate, that but for a missed penalty, some incredible saves and some spurned, gilt-edged chances, could’ve gone either way.
Sean Dyche’s men came to the Midlands and blew the Foxes away for 15 minutes with wave after wave of attack, taking the lead through a Dominic Calvert-Lewin spot-kick on the quarter-hour, before Caglar Soyuncu’s effort squirmed underneath Jordan Pickford to equalise. Twelve minutes before the break Jamie Vardy’s stunning first touch set him up to round the Everton stopper to make it 2-1.
After Seamus Coleman was stretchered off with what looked like a leg break soon after, James Maddison spurned the chance to double the Foxes’ lead on the stroke of half time, having his tame penalty saved by Pickford who stood upright, after a blatant Michael Keane handball. Alex Iwobi notched the equaliser on 54 minutes with a crisp back post volley, and despite Leicester being in the ascendancy thereafter, it was Everton rued not taking their chances after looking more likely to score in the last fifteen minutes.
City are now outside of the relegation zone ahead of Nottingham Forest and Leeds on goal difference only, and here at Foxes of Leicester we’re outlining three things we learned from LCFC 2-2 Everton.
Daniel Iversen is Leicester City’s true No.1
Foxes fans can reflect on last night’s fixture and bemoan the James Maddison penalty or the Jamie Vardy missed chance at 2-1, but the reality is that Iversen’s supreme shot-stopping ability kept their side in the match, and potentially in the division, the latter of which we’ll not know for a while. The Dane’s stop from Calvert-Lewin, who albeit should’ve scored, meant that City could break and create the opening for Vardy in the first place.
As many have remarked on social media, if not for the change in goalkeeper in March, the picture at the bottom of the table could look very different. There’s a strong argument that with Danny Ward between the sticks last night, the Foxes could’ve shipped way more than the two goals that the Toffees managed.
The fight will surely reach the final day
A win and two draws for Leicester from fixtures against Wolves, Leeds United and Everton was arguably more of a points haul than many expected given the run of one point from 27 available immediately prior. Although I’m sure if given the choice, Dean Smith would’ve happily switched to a draw against Wolves and a victory against one of the clubs around his side.
If one assumes Southampton are too far adrift to survive, we’re now no longer at the stage where any of the relegation candidates face off against one and other, that is of course dependent on whether West Ham get dragged back into the equation, which is possible given their next two fixtures are against the Manchester clubs before facing Brentford, Leeds and Leicester.
Of the four sides from 16th through 19th, Leeds United have the trickiest fixture list, facing three of the current top six. Sam Allardyce is set to take charge, according to reports, in what is a do-or-die move by the Elland Road hierarchy. Everton and Leicester both have similar run ins with two strong sides each and two games where they’ll fancy their shot at victory, while Nottingham Forest face Southampton, Chelsea, Arsenal and Crystal Palace.
It’s looking like somewhere around 36 points is required, with City’s superior goal difference compared with those around them acting as an extra buffer in this nail-biting fight. The Foxes face West Ham on matchday 38, and it remains to be seen whether then Hammers are back in it by then, with a compelling argument among the Foxes faithful being that they’d rather their opponents be home and dry at that point.
There’s no space for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
When Wilfred Ndidi was sacrificed with the scores level last night in favour of Patson Daka, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall must have known that he was not going to see any action for his boyhood club. The midfield trio at that point was James Maddison, Youri Tielemans and Boubakary Soumare, none of which would have been appropriate to take out of the game, the latter of which would not be a viable sub for Dewsbury-Hall in that case anyway.
Now an unused substitute for two consecutive games, the Shepshed-born midfielder is finding it difficult to cement a place in the first team under the new management of Dean Smith. After showing promise against Wolves with plenty of energy and harrying the away defenders into giving the ball away, ‘KDH’ exhibited his tendency to make simple mistakes in possession that stalled momentum at times.
Smith’s decision to deploy Soumare and Ndidi last night was correct, given the system that his opposite number deploys at Everton and that extra bit of height that was required. Dewsbury-Hall is a good impact substitute if one wishes to increase the tempo, but as Smith alerted to in his post-match interview, the game was already far more open and end-to-end than he would have wished.