A number of surprises in the line-up and a few pleasing changes that made real sense. The surprise was to see Wes Morgan, the captain, dropped and also the inclusion of Papa Mendy. Great to see Marc Albrighton back in the line-up and Ricardo Pereira moved to his best position, right back. Jamie Vardy was given the chance up front. Daniel Amartey, Kelechi Iheanacho and Adrien Silva were all named on the bench.
With four changes from start it might be difficult to adapt and it was a great struggle from the start. Wolves came close hitting the bar and Ben Chilwell just a toe away from a clear goal. The visitors could have been at least 1-0 up after the first three minutes.
After this Leicester more and more came into the game and started to perform with good passing and again some entertaing stuff from James Maddison who again had a great game. The introduction of Papa Mendy was also a great success.
Mendy, who was out loan at Nice last season, hadn’t started a game for the club since January 2017 when playing Southampton. He was in great form and really nice to see his fresh and solid passing and really giving the Leicester midfield a new dimention.
Silva had dropped to the bench and Iborra was not in the squad. Puel is a bit unpredictable and not easy to read, but this time he really got his selection 100 % correct, and was also rewarded during the first half.
A crosser from Marc Albrighton after 29 minutes was unluckily for Wolves defender Matt Doherty, headed fantastically into his own net, being pressured inside the penalty box.
Leicester kept momentum with Ndidi and Mendy dominating the midfield area, well balanced with Gray and Albrighton on both sides, and with an “in form” James Maddision just behind the front man Jamie Vardy.
Ricardo Pereira and Ben Chilwell are both offensive full backs and made it possible for City to play with confidence and high pressure. Maddison made everything correct when he after 45 minutes scored from a great and accurate shot on the floor, well placed.
Leicester were 2-0 up at half-time and had turned the game absolutely around after that horrible start.
2nd half was a bit of a balanced game and Leicester looked well confident until the 66th minute when Jamie Vardy was send off, given a direct red, for a move that was really not necessary at all, despite being on the ball Vardy also took Doherty with him and it looked nasty.
After this incident it was more of a game for Leicester to balance and Kasper Schmeichel together with the defenders had good controll, despite being one man less.
So to sum up the game, here are the positives and negatives, player ratings and match stats.
- Positvies:
- Playing in the 4-4-1-1 formation and players looks confident
- Vardy back in the line-up and contributing
- Maddison playing well and scoring his first league goal for the club
- Winning at home, picking up three points, keeping a clean sheet
- Suprise changes worked for the better
- Mendy’s performance, where did that come from
- Pereira playing at right back, doing great
- Negatives:
- Vardy getting sent off, strange behavior from an experienced player
- Two yellow cards and one red
- Bad start to the game, could have been in great trouble after a few minutes
- Unpredictable and strange things happening, but luckily it turned out well
Player Ratings: Schmeichel 7. Pereira 8, Chilwell 8, Evans 6, Maguire 7, Mendy 8, Ndidi 7, Albrighton 7, Gray 6, Maddison 8, Vardy 5, Subs: Amartey, Iheanacho, Silva
Match Stats: H/A
- Possession: 40 / 60
- Corners: 1 / 9
- Shots on target: 2 / 4
- Shots wide: 2 / 4
- Fouls: 10 / 8
- Offsides: 0 / 1
