There were some standout Foxes for positive and negative reasons on Friday versus Köln. Let's find out which players were winners and losers from Leicester City's friendly defeat to the Germans.
Background
Leicester City played two friendly matches on Friday, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. First of all, what appeared to be manager Marti Cifuentes' second string lineup beat Ukrainian outfit Karpaty Lviv 2-1. Then what I would guess is Cifuentes' first XI were defeated by German side Köln. The 2. Bundesliga team are decent opposition, but not as good as City's final non-competitive opponents Fiorentina next week.
Therefore the Catalan will be looking for a better performance in the last LCFC practice game. Though some Foxes players still caught the eye for good and bad reasons. Who were the winners and losers from the Billy Goats clash? Which stars could start against Viola, and who might perhaps be relegated to the King Power Stadium substitute's bench? Let's discover the names.
LCFC starting lineup
This was the XI, and subs, that faced the Cologne side: Jakub Stolarczyk; James Justin, Conor Coady, Jannik Vestergaard, Bade Aluko; Harry Winks, Oliver Skipp; Kasey McAteer, Louis Page, Jeremy Monga; Jordan Ayew. Subs: Jake Donohue, Woyo Coulibaly, Jayden Joseph, Silko Thomas, Ben Nelson, Wanya Marcal, Abdul Fatawu.
Foxes winners and losers from Leicester City's friendly loss vs Köln
According to Leicester Mercury, a few fringe Foxes did themselves no harm on the day. Not to mention some outstanding notables emerging as well. They also named the match's strugglers.
First of all, McAteer looks great for this season to me. His goal was taken with aplomb too.
"Abdul Fatawu: He’s going to wake up with a lot of bruises for how often Koln players bundled him to the ground. It’s a positive sign that he always brushed himself down and carried on, and that fouling him was the only way to stop him."LCFC Live
The defending of Coady, Justin, Nelson and Vestergaard was cited as poor at times.
"Jeremy Monga: Dazzling again. His close control and speed of thought when dribbling is first class, and he adds to that with great decision-making in advanced areas, something you would not expect of a 16-year-old. Could he start in two weeks’ time? Maybe."
Winks and Skipp came in for criticism along with defenders.
"Ben Nelson: Coming on for the second time, he looked a little slow against Koln and didn’t read play as well as against Karpaty, bar one timely intervention in his own box."
Ayew's form and competence appears inconsistent. While Monga was the Player of the Match again.