Leicester City’s 100 percent win record came to a stuttering halt on Saturday as a lone Liam Delap goal was enough to see Hull City overcome the then-Championship leaders. The defeat is a stark reminder to the Foxes faithful as to how unpredictable the second division can be and that anyone can beat anyone on their day.
Coming into the game, Leicester had been on their best run of form in the club’s history, winning their opening four league fixtures for the first time. Coincided with a healthy run in the Carabao Cup, expectations were for the Foxes to see out yet another win, but Enzo Maresca now heads into the international break having suffered his sides’ first defeat. Here’s where Foxes of Leicester feel it went wrong on a frustrating day at the King Power.
The starting XI
Lineups are always clearer in hindsight, but when the team news was announced at 2pm, there were a couple of calls that posed a few questions. Kasey McAteer, a player who is yet to discover his strongest position in the team, was moved from the right wing – from where he scored both goals against Rotherham – to the left which allowed for Yunus Akgun to make his full debut for the club, meaning that the impressive Stephy Mavididi started from the bench.
Both McAteer and Yunus had several good touches, but neither got on the ball as much as Maresca would have liked. When both came off for Mavididi and new signing Abdul Fatawu in the second half, their replacements were able to have a greater impact on the game.
Mavididi looked comfortable on the ball, his greater experience on the left flank greatly outshone McAteer’s time on that side, whilst Fatawu was comfortably the most impressive part of Leicester’s display. The 19-year-old showcased dazzling footwork and pace as he frequently raced to the byline before cutting the ball across the box. It was Fatawu who came closest to scoring for the Foxes, his low effort had beaten the ‘keeper, but crashed off the post to deny him a dream debut.
The other two selection head-scratchers were the inclusion of Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho. Both Nigerians had a busy transfer deadline day on Friday and there was a chance that neither would be at the club come kick-off. As it so happened, deals couldn’t be struck and both remain in the East Midlands, but it was surprising for both to start.
Ndidi changed the game against Tranmere in the midweek Carabao Cup fixture, the midfielder scored and assisted having come on at half-time. Whilst this is the argument made for him starting, the same can’t be said for Kelechi Iheanacho.
Aside from a belting performance against Burton, the striker hasn’t had the best of starts this season. Yet to score in the Championship, perhaps it was the right time to start Jamie Vardy who had just scored against Tranmere. The veteran came close to a late equaliser against The Tigers, but his header just glanced past the wrong side of the goal.
Wasted Leicester City chances
The main reason for Leicester’s loss, they are just not clinical with their shooting. The highlights from Saturday are filled with missed chances from the game, from Kelechi Iheanacho’s poor touch preventing a good shot on goal, to several blazed efforts from Harry Winks and Ricardo Pereira.
Looking at the stats, the Foxes dominated the chances in the game with 21 shots compared to Hull’s seven. Yet when you look at how many shots Leicester had on target, you see that they could only register the one compared to Hull’s four.
It’s a mentality that needs to be worked on the training ground as the Foxes are simply snatching at efforts. To only really test Matt Ingram the once from 21 shots is really poor and this was flagged by Enzo Maresca in his post-match comments with LeicestershireLive:
"“When you shoot more than 20 times, probably you need to be more clinical, but sometimes this happens. They didn’t want to shoot outside of the goal! They want to shoot on target. But sometimes they cannot do it. It happened with all of them, Kiernan, Cesare, Wilfred, Fatawu, Stephy, Macca. The most important thing is that we arrived there and shot 20 times. Sometimes we score and sometimes we don’t.”"
Fans will be hoping that new striker Tom Cannon, brought in from Everton on deadline day, will be able to make his chances count when he gets onto the pitch after the international break. A high scoring team last season – despite their relegation – the Foxes really need to put their shooting boots back on.
The lack of urgency
When Delap scored in the 15th minute, it would be fair to say that fans weren’t overly worried. With 75 minutes of the game yet to play, there was plenty of time to overturn the deficit. Ideally, the Foxes would find an equaliser before the break, but that never came.
Thankfully, it’s in the second half where Leicester have been able to turn games around. That’s the belief that fans had anyway, but the performance didn’t show.
It’s a defeat which, if fans are critical, they’d have seen coming. All of Maresca’s league wins have been only by a one-goal margin and the Foxes are yet to fully dominate an opponent. It’s not to say the football hasn’t been working, but they are yet to have an explosive impact on a game unlike their Championship rivals.
In each of their wins, Leicester have been let off the hook by either tight offside calls or by poor misses from good chances. Both Huddersfield and Cardiff City will have felt aggrieved to come empty handed from their games against LCFC.
Against Hull, City just weren’t urgent enough. It didn’t feel as if they truly turned the screw or peppered the box with chances and shots. Maresca’s side weren’t lazy or complacent – his system doesn’t allow for such a thing – and they were in control of the ball for a lot of the game, they just didn’t make that control count.
It’s a harsh lesson for both the team and for Enzo Maresca. It is still very early in his rebuild project. A defeat is probably good for the squad, the problems spoken about will be addressed and, hopefully, fixed in light of this. We’ve seen that the system can and does work, but the occasional hurdle is all part of the process. The project isn’t over because of a 1-0 defeat to Hull City.
Leicester City’s next game is a tough trip to fellow relegated side Southampton who have been transformed under Russell Martin. It will be a sturdy test, but exactly what the Foxes need as they aim to fix the cracks from Saturday.