How Leicester City can bring the best out of Kelechi Iheanacho
By Arnav Bhatia
The ex-Manchester City man’s shooting figures are below average. He has taken ten shots so far (third highest in the team) but has only hit the target twice, scoring zero goals. He has taken four shots inside the box and six shots from outside the box, having an average shot distance from goal of 19.7 yards. He has received zero big chances and has accumulated a meager xG of 0.6 from all his shots.
Iheanacho has had 153 touches of the ball so far, and out of them only 15 have been in the penalty box (less than Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Stephy Mavididi). In comparison, Jamie Vardy has nine touches in the penalty box from his total 45 touches of the ball.
Looking at passes, the player from Nigeria seems to be doing fine. He has created two big chances and has one assist. He could slightly increase his chance creation having registered only six key passes and four passes into the penalty box. He’s not much of a dribbler, having only one successful carry into the box.
The lack of goals is not just Iheanacho’s fault though. In a previous article, I highlighted Leicester’s difficulty in creating good chances so far. Having not created a single big chance for your striker after five league games is a concerning stat.
Iheanacho’s lack of chances is also linked to his positioning, if you have a look at his season’s heatmap, he seems to be in an Attacking Midfield role the majority of the time. While he does create space and chances for the Wingers and the Central Midfielders, his lack of presence in the penalty box will hamper the team and his chances of scoring goals.
If a striker isn’t scoring and is instead dropping deep to set up chances, his teammates have to capitalize on that. There hasn’t been consistent returns from any other player so far.
A possible solution for this is playing a second striker alongside Iheanacho, whether it be Vardy or Patson Daka. Leicester usually play with a 4-1-4-1 out of possession and transition into a 3-2-4-1 formation in possession with Ricardo Pereira advancing into midfield. With Iheanacho dropping deep frequently, Leicester often lack a presence in the penalty box for players to target.