Brendan Rodgers presented an unchanged team and even kept most of his bench as well, just replacing Luke Thomas with a fit and fresh Wes Morgan, who also late in the game made his first appearance of this league campaign, but it was Burnley who came best out of the starting blocks as they took the lead from a Chris Wood goal early on.
Embed from Getty ImagesLeicester City just pushed on and after 20 minutes everything was equal after a great run and turn from Jamie Vardy unselfishly passing the ball to Timothy Castagne who found Harvey Barnes with his pass and the latter converted with a nice placed shot down in the corner.
Leicester then had great domination and especially Harvey Barnes shined up front with Youri Tielemans doing well in midfield, but Burnley is a team that never gives up and they are just a great group of battlers so not easy to break down.
It was 1-1 at half time, but with so much Leicester City domination that we all believed in a win going into 2nd half. After 60 minutes it was time to get into the lead, and again it was Timothy Castagne in the main part, playing a ball towards Jamie Vardy, but the ball never reached him as Burnley defender Erik Pieters deflected the pass and outplayed the goalkeeper and in it went, great to finally see Leicester taking the lead.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe domination was almost 100% at times, but it was difficult to tear down the Burnley defense even without their main central defenders Ben Mee and James Tarkowski, both out with injuries, but debutant Jimmy Dunne impressed and stopped most attempts together with their England goalkeeper Pope and also Bardsley, Taylor and Long battling on, trying to keep Barnes, Perez and Vardy silent, not very easy.
But after 61 minutes it was time for a Leicester City goal. A great attack rolled up with massive pressure and a lot of blue players inside the Burnley penalty box, James Justin was last on the ball as it crossed the line, great to see 3-1 lightening up.
But you should never underestimate Burnley, a team with players strong in the air, and it was with a header, debutant Dunne, found the net after 73 minutes. Leicester did play with high risk at times, but with such massive pressure you will get chances to score.
Embed from Getty ImagesDennis Praet was the one this time, that killed it all, a great ball player that needs to play week in and week out, but that might not happen with everyone fully fit as it looks if Brendan Rodgers don’t really fancy Praet for a regular place, taking him off even when he scores a wonderful and cracking goal from distance, what a perfect shot, his goal settles the final score, 4-2.
Burnley is a team that comes to most arenas to try to spoil the party, using their bodies and muscles and trying to pass the ball up to Chris Wood and he came close a few times, even hitting the post, so that formula will give The Clarets a great number of points this season.
Embed from Getty ImagesLeicester are now top of the table, with the next PL clash away to Man City and before that a EFL Cup game v. Arsenal at home.
- Positives
- Again just going along with a 4-3-3 and keeping momentum
- Timothy Castagne again brilliant
- Youri Tielemans played with confidence and showing great leadership in midfield
- James Maddison getting minutes and fantastic to be able to have such a great sub
- Scoring four goals is always great
- Going top of the table, makes you feel great, doesn’t it
- James Justin scoring his first league goal for the club
- Harvey Barnes just a blizzard out there this evening
- Negatives:
- Sloppy defending and passing at times, Burnley came close too often
- Kasper Schmeichel doing errors in his passing, just kick the ball out
- Mendy picking up a yellow card
- Player Ratings: Schmeichel 6, Castagne 8, Justin 7, Ndidi 6, Soyuncu 7, Tielemans 8, Mendy 6, Praet 8, Vardy 6, Barnes 9, Perez 6 Subs: Albrighton, Maddison, Morgan
- Leicester City, Man of the Match
- Harvey Barnes
Match Stats (H/A):
- Possession: 68 / 32
- Corners: 15 / 4
- Shots on target: 14 / 16
- Fouls: 11 / 13
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