Playing against a team that had drawn their first two league games of the season (against Oxford and Huddersfield), and that had been heavily beaten by Norwich in the first round of the EFL Cup, Leicester travelled to Milton Keynes with an expectation that this could be the moment to kick start what had been a poor opening two weeks of the season.
Team news
Russell Martin made four changes from the midweek cup game and, more significantly, seven changes from the side beaten by Burton Albion last weekend. Following his good performance in the midweek Ipswich encounter, Chrisian Macfarlane kept his place. Louis Page, also impressive against the Tractor Boys, came in for the suspended Oliver Skipp – allowing Luke Thomas to replicate his central defending role in the absence of the injured Caleb Okoli – Jayden Joseph, back from injury, replaced Bade Auo, and Bobby De Cordova Reid, rather surprisingly, replaced Admir Bristric up front. Finally, Tommy Watson and Jakub Stolarczyk played in place of Will Alves and Alex McCarthy.
New signing Ilari Kangasniemi took his place on the bench. Interestingly, too, Harry Souttar (unlike Stephy Mavididi, Wout Faes and Hamza Choudhury) continues to be picked despite being linked with a move away. Significantly, perhaps though, Conor Chaplin took the captain’s arm band from the centre back on what was his first league start.
Positives but….
I have rarely seen a team dominating a game as much as the Foxes did in Milton Keynes. 76% possession, 24 shots (against seven) with seven on target, and 643 passes compared to MK Dons’ 197 tells you everything you need to know.
The game was familiar in the sense that Leicester’s final ball was too often inaccurate, and too many chances squandered. Reid’s miss after ten minutes when clear on goal was the worst example.
On the other hand, there were no defensive catastrophises. Macfarlane looked accomplished at left back and Thomas surprisingly good at left centre back. In addition, there were some fine attacking movements and good attempts on goal. Sammy Braybrooke and Jayden Joseph both hit the woodwork and the former had another shot well saved by Craig MacGillivray in the MK Dons goal.
Above all, Leicester desperately need a striker with experience of scoring in the lower reaches of the EFL. To challenge for promotion, a club needs a forward who can score at least 20 goals. It is doubtful if such a player will arrive before the close of the transfer window on Tuesday and one fears for the club as a result.
Incredible support
Almost 6,000 Foxes’ fans travelled down the M1 on Saturday afternoon, a remarkable number for a struggling team and a large proportion of the 16,000 attendance. It illustrates that support is not always dependent on success on the pitch. However, football fandom is not entirely divorced from results. As Leicester struggled to get through the low block MK Dons employed, a small number of away fans did articulate negativity (chanting ‘Leicester’s going down with Russell Martin’). The club cannot afford this poor run to continue. The home game against Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday evening is now crucial.
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