Leicester City’s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s season so far

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall became an instant fan favorite when he was thrust into Leicester City’s starting eleven in the 2021-22 season. The Englishman’s energy in the midfield became a huge asset to the Foxes alongside being instrumental in bringing the ball up and distributing passes to the creative forces in the team.

‘KDH’ has been one of Leicester’s better players so far this season and he had a tremendous start to the campaign, scoring both goals in a 2-1 comeback win against Coventry City. However, the tireless midfielder seems to be struggling a bit lately. While he is not playing badly, his performances have not been particularly good either.

With James Maddison, Harvey Barnes and Youri Tielemans’ departures to Premier League clubs, there is a slight void in creativity in the final third. Dewsbury-Hall might be trying too hard to fill this void on his own. There are times when he has the ball and tries too hard to create something out of almost nothing, whether it be a long shot or a near impossible pass attempt.

His shooting stats this season show this. Last season in the Premier League, he played 31 games and took 26 shots. The Fox has already taken 18 shots in five games this season. That equates to 3.62 shots every 90 minutes compared to last season’s 1.01 shots every 90 minutes. He seems to be hitting the target more often though, having recorded 1.21 shots on target per 90 minutes, a vast improvement over last season’s 0.23 shots on targets every 90 minutes.

Much of these shots are far out from goal, an average of 21.8 yards away from goal to be exact. Dewsbury-Hall’s shots total an xG of 1.2, with each shot having an average xG of 0.07. This signifies that he takes shots which don’t really have much chance of hitting the back of the net.

However, the Englishman’s passing stats show how valuable he is to the team. He has recorded a single assist but has been regularly creating chances. He has created two big chances and a further 21 chances (second highest in the league). The midfielder has also recorded 21 key passes and six passes into the penalty area.

Dewsbury-Hall is a great carrier of the ball. While he isn’t a skilful dribbler, KDH always looks to bring the ball up the field quickly. His 29 progressive carries are second highest in the team while his four carries into the penalty box rank him third highest in the team.

To summarize, the Leicester academy graduate is a vital cog in Enzo Maresca’s tactics. His work ethic, ball carrying and distribution are highly important for the team. He should however tone down his shooting and try not to overburden himself to be the creative spark in the team.

There is a contributing factor to this though. Many times, Kelechi Iheanacho drops deep to help create chances and leaves space for KDH to run in behind.  Being the most advanced player, he usually doesn’t have players to target and resorts to taking long shots. As discussed in my previous article on Iheanacho, having Jamie Vardy or Patson Daka as a second forward may help by giving him a player in the penalty box to target.

The 2021-22 Leicester Player of the Year will no doubt play a key part in Leicester’s promotion bid this season. With Maresca’s tutelage and a more important role in the team compared to last season, he should be a much better player by the end of the season.