Foxes of Leicester
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Liverpool 4-0 Leicester: Four Foxes talking points

By Robert Garner

Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister (C) fights for the ball against Leicester City's Harry Winks (R) during Singapore Festival of Football pre-season match between Liverpool and Leicester City in Singapore on July 30, 2023. (Photo by Mohd RASFAN / AFP) (Photo by MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister (C) fights for the ball against Leicester City's Harry Winks (R) during Singapore Festival of Football pre-season match between Liverpool and Leicester City in Singapore on July 30, 2023. (Photo by Mohd RASFAN / AFP) (Photo by MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Yes, a strong Liverpool team were the opponents. And yes, it was only a pre-season friendly. Despite that, a 4-0 defeat should set the alarm bells ringing for Leicester City.

Four major talking points come to mind. First of all, it is unsurprising that a disciple of Pep Guardiola should set his team up to play out from the back. However, the question remains whether the Foxes have the necessary quality to play this way. The amount of times Leicester players gave the ball away, or were successfully pressed by Liverpool, was embarrassing. The reality is that the 4-0 scoreline flattered the King Power outfit.

Second, precious little creativity was evident when Leicester did press forward. If we wondered how the team would fare without James Maddison, this was a worrying sign. It’s clear that Enzo Maresca intends to play Harry Winks in the holding role leaving Wilfred Ndidi to play further forward. The latter’s bursts into the box were promising but his finishing is poor and he is not the type of player who is going to create a host of chances for other players.

Thirdly, is Maresca really going to persevere with Jannik Vestergaard at the back? He has had a chequered history at the club and there is little evidence that he can adapt to the style of play the new manager wants to roll out. His lack of pace and poor distribution caused enormous problems against Liverpool.

Finally, it is reasonable to ask how many of the squad on show in Singapore will still be at the club by the time the transfer window closes at the end of August. A number of players – Daniel Iversen, Timothy Castagne, Hamza Choudhury, Dennis Praet, Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi – have been linked with moves away.

Next. Leicester City 0-4 Liverpool: player ratings as Foxes’ preseason ends in defeat. dark

The team taking to the field against Hull City at the King Power stadium on September 2 may well look very different from the one defeated by Liverpool. In light of this, we maybe shouldn’t draw too many conclusions from this pre-season friendly. On the other hand, the lack of squad certainty demonstrates how difficult Maresca’s job is going to be.