TeamInFocus-Leicester City

Leicester are one of just three teams to remain unbeaten in the opening four games. They face Man United & Spurs in GW5 & GW6. Whilst on paper these may seem challenging, there’s no reason why a Leicester asset is a bad option with the side brimming with confidence. Alternatively, you could wait until GW7 to take advantage of Newcastle at home prior to a strong run of fixtures all the way through until GW17. Leicester will be looking to turn the King Power into a fortress this season and most expect plenty of victories over the next few games if they want to challenge on a European spot this season.

Fixtures : United(A),Tottenham(H),Newcastle(H),Liverpool(A),Burnley(H)

Style of play :

The foxes under Brendan Rodgers have switched to a 4-1-4-1 with Ndidi in the holding role after the dismal performances of winger Ayoze Perez in the opening few weeks. With Ndidi playing the defensive midfield role,it frees up space for Tielemans and Maddison to attack more. Barnes on the left has shown glimpses on what he is capable of in the future. The defensive duo of Soyuncu and Evans have looked solid,but the real test will come only in the upcoming weeks when they face Spurs and United. The fullbacks Chilwell and Pereira can rack up attacking returns even when Leicester dont get a cleansheet in these tough games.

Key Players :

Youri Tielemans(6.4) :

Been noticing a lot of people stating that Youri Tielemans as a deep playing CM. While he may have played deeper in his previous teams,At Leicester he has been one of the attacking midfielders with Maddison playing as 10 and Ndidi as DM. Now priced at only £6.4 million, the same as Mount,he could prove to be a huge differential with a fairly low 4.3% ownership. Tielemans has a vital role in Rodgers’ Leicester team along with Maddison as the two creative midfielders who control the game.

Stats corner :

Tielemans in 2018/19:

• 13 Starts
• 3 Goals from 1.80xG
• 5 Assists from 1.69xA
• 3 Clean Sheets
• 31 Attempts
• 12 Shots on Target
• 35.2 m/p Attempt
• 16 Chances Created
• 6 Big Chances Created
• 68.0 m/p Chance Created
• 9 Attempts from Set-Pieces

Tielemans in 2019/20:

• 4 Starts
• 1 Goal from 0.84xG
• 1 Assist from 0.69xA
• 1 Clean Sheet
• 11 Attempts
• 2 Shots on Target
• 32.6 m/p Attempt
• 6 Chances Created
• 2 Big Chances Created
• 60 m/p Chance Created

Impressive stuff! Here are those statistics compared to a similarly priced under performing teammate, Ayoze Perez.

Tielemans vs Perez :

• xG – 0.88/0.12
• xA – 0.69/0.06
• Mins – 360/237
• Goals – 1/0
• Assists – 1/0
• Shots – 11/3
• Big Chances Created – 2/0

As you can see, Youri outshines him in all aspects and could prove to be a good budget midfielder especially after the games against United and Tottenham.

2.Jamie Vardy(9.0) :

Priced at £9M, Vardy has scored 10+ goals in each of the last 4 seasons including 20 in 17/18 and 18 in 18/19. Vardy was the 4th highest scoring forward in 18/19, with only Aubameyang, Aguero and Jimenez ahead of him. A modestly priced forward who could open up money in the midfield for better options.

Fixtures :

United(A) GW5,Spurs (H)GW6,Liverpool(A) GW8, Arsenal(H) GW12.

Four big games in the next 7 weeks. But thats what Jamie Vardy wants!He has always found a way to score against the big teams irrespective of the form he is in. He is also in tremendous form this year and would like to continue it.

Vardy’s goals scored against Top 6 PL sides (Last 5 seasons) :

• 8 vs Arsenal
• 7 vs Liverpool
• 5 vs United/City/Spurs
• 4 vs Chelsea

⚽82 – Only Harry Kane (124) and Sergio Aguero (116) have scored more Premier League goals since the start of the 2014-15 season than Jamie Vardy (82).
⚽10 – Since the start of March, no player has scored more Premier League goals than Jamie Vardy (10). Form.

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for the GW5 preview and captian picks in the next blogs.