It is an unenviable task to try to predict Leicester’s starting line-up for the game against Hull City on Saturday when it’s still not clear, in the run-up to the closing of the transfer window on Friday night, which players will still be at the club. In particular, much speculation still surrounds the futures of Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi, the former being linked with Palace, Wolves and West Ham and the latter with Forest, as well as (somewhat surprisingly and probably inaccurately) with Liverpool and Bayern Munich.
The other possible departure, although less likely given his long contract with the Foxes, is Wout Faes who, it is said, is attracting the attention of Spurs as a replacement for Eric Dier who would have to be sold by the North London club first. Assuming that none of the three mentioned above leave by tomorrow, my predicted 11 would be:
Mads Hermansen will return in goal after being rested against Tranmere. The back four of Ricardo Pereira, Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard and Callum Doyle picks itself.
Who plays in the midfield three is more difficult to predict, irrespective of the transfer uncertainty. Enzo Maresca was clearly unhappy at the performance of some of the players he substituted at half time in the midweek League Cup tie on the Wirral. He didn’t name names but one player who he might have been referring to is Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall who has struggled a little of late. Starting Cesare Casadei for the first time must be tempting. Ndidi’s increasingly effective performances as a box-to-box number eight makes him a shoe-in. So my midfield three would be Harry Winks, Casadei and Ndidi.
Two of the front three will clearly be Iheanacho and Stephy Mavididi. It is less clear who will occupy the right-sided attacking position. Kasey McAteer did well last week against Rotherham and probably deserves to keep his place. He is being challenged now, though, by new signing Yunis Akgun. I would go with McAteer with Akgun to come on later in the game.
Imagine, though, if Iheanacho, Ndidi and Faes depart on transfer deadline day. What then? Such an outcome would present huge problems for Maresca (and for that reason I don’t think it will happen. Let’s assume, though, that the nightmare scenario unfolds.
At the back, the two most likely options would be either replacing Faes with Ben Nelson or moving Doyle to the centre and bringing in Hamza Choudhury at left back. Given that Nelson hasn’t played a league match for Leicester yet, I think the latter option is far more likely. In midfield, the departure of Ndidi would mean Dewsbury-Hall keeps his place.
Up-front is where the biggest problem lies. If Iheanacho is sold, the obvious replacement would be Patson Daka (assuming he is still at the club!). Jamie Vardy played the whole game on Tuesday night and it is asking a lot for the 37 year old to start two games in a week. This would smell of desperation, though, since Daka has not been in Maresca’s plans at all so far. The alternative would be to move Mavididi into the centre (a position he aspires to) and bring in one of the other wide players to replace him on the left.
Leicester fans must hope that the club does not allow a mass sale of first team players before tomorrow night. Such a move would surely be a case of unnecessary self-harm. The latest word is that the Nigeria striker is likely to stay, not least because the Foxes have set their asking price at a level that is acting as a deterrent to potential purchasers. By contrast, Ndidi’s departure is looking increasingly likely with a report stating that he is pushing for the move to Forest.