Liverpool vs Leicester City – Opposition Preview
By Daniel Ghorbal
Winning the FA Cup at the end of last season was seen as a huge point in the history of Leicester City. Despite winning the Premier League against all odds, this felt like a truly significant trophy win and one which meant that they had really established theirselves as one of the top six sides in the country.
Agonisingly for them, Brendan Rodgers’ side missed out on the top four again on the final day, meaning another season of Europa League football and not having the same pulling power to attract a better calibre of player. Fast forward to now, and it’s fair to say that the situation at Leicester is a precarious one and things aren’t going to plan.
The recent 4-1 FA cup defeat at Nottingham Forest was an epitome of their season, playing some neat, intricate football at stages before completely self-destructing and making mistake after mistake. The manner of the defeat in the end was a humiliating one and has raised even more concerns about the direction of the team. Realistically, there are no fears of relegation amongst the fans, Leicester currently sit in 12th place and have a cushion between them and the bottom end of the table, but a lot seems to be going wrong at the moment and despite all the attacking quality at their disposal, results are going astray on too many an occasion.
First and foremost, they are defensively all over the place. Bar a few solid performances, including that well-fought 1-0 victory over Liverpool in December, they typically concede in the majority of games they play, whether it’s from a set-piece, a simple through ball or a cross from out wide. Confidence amongst the ever changing back-line must be at an all time low, and Brendan Rodgers has some serious thinking to do about how he can resolve the situation. Coming up against a reenergised Liverpool side, the Foxes’ concentration and organisation will need to be at optimum level, with no doubt that Rodgers and his staff will be showing his players clips from their last game against Liverpool and how well they defended well. If it wasn’t for that anomalous result, the reds would be seeing this as a routine victory against a depleted side, but Klopp will ensure that an intensity is established from the get go and that his team make it an uncomfortable evening for Leicester. Personnel wise, it is impossible to call what Brendan Rodgers will go for. Bar maybe Kasper Schmeichel, Harvey Barnes and James Maddison, nobody has really proved in recent weeks that they deserve a starting place in the side, and at this stage of the season when teams aim to put good runs together, that is a huge concern.
Despite all the defensive frailties, Leicester are still a huge threat going forward and have a number of different dimensions in which they can hurt Liverpool. In the Carabao Cup fixture between these two sides, Maddison, Daka and Vardy ripped Liverpool to shreds in the first half, and although the Reds’ defence was makeshift to say the least, the pace they had that day could hurt anyone and this is something to be wary of. Liverpool may see Leicester’s porous defence as a chance to attack the game on all fronts, but keeping close tabs on Maddison in particular is imperative for the outcome of the game. Although they have struggled, the technical ability of the midfield and Maddison in particular remains superb, and if he gets the ball to his feet on several occasions he certainly won’t waste that opportunity.
With regards to team news, Leicester have a few absentees including Jamie Vardy, Johnny Evans and Timothy Castagne, but the returns of James Justin and Ricardo Pereira amongst others mean they have a big squad to choose from and options to freshen things up. With this midweek fixture coming before an important home on Sunday, Rodgers will want fresh legs to make sure they can cope with the tempo of Liverpool’s play and have the energy to pose a threat going forward too.
Predicted Leicester team: Schmeichel, Justin, Soyuncu, Amartey, Thomas, Ndidi, Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall, Maddison, Barnes, Iheanacho
