- Leicester City (0) 2
- G: Vestergaard, Faes, A: El Khannouss 2
- Sheffield Wednesday (1) 1
- G: Chalobah A: Valery
SUMMARY:
Leicester starts the season with a well earned 2-1 home win over Sheffield Wednesday. A total domination over two halfs. Having the upper hand in the end. Winning this vital first game, just great to be there when it happened.
A slow and fatigue first half. Sheffield Wednesday doing the most out of the situation, taking an early lead, keeping it at half time. Leicester were quick out of the blocks in the second half. Skipp had been replaced with Winks. This made a difference. Winks creativity became a key in a game as Leicester became more aggressive and better powered.
Goals from Jannik Vestergaard and Wout Faes changed the day for Leicester fans. Two great goals, scored by central defenders. Leicester had immense ball possession 75/25. This shows the gap in quality between the two teams. Still Sheffield Wednesday made it difficult for Leicester with their low block defending and special movements. They tried to upset the home team.
Here, Filbertway provides an in-depth analysis of the game.
LINE-UP:
(4-2-3-1): Stolarczyk; Justin, Vestergaard, Okoli, Thomas; Skipp, Soumare, El Khannouss; Fatawu 7, Ayew 7, Mavididi 6
We missed Hamza Choudhury in the starting line-up. He is a calmer player on the ball than James Justin. The passing and flow from the back would have been better with Hamza. What you get with Justin is a player with more pace and a more traditional right back alternative. Hamza is better in positioning. He can also be used in that converting role, going into midfield. He is also a better tackler and could break down opponents and stop counter attacks. The rest of the line-up and system were as expected.
VITAL EVENTS
Goal; 87 minutes, Faes scores scores for Leicester
Red Card; 67 minutes, Barry Bannan for Wednesday
Goal; 63 minutes, Vestergaard scores for Leicester
Substitution; 46 minutes, Winks in for Skipp
Substitution; 32 minutes, Chalobah for Wednesday leaves the field with injury
Goal; 27 minutes, Chalobah scores for Wednesday
HIGHLIGHTS
3-4 minutes. The visitors have been dominant in the early stages. Justin has won a few headers. This includes one from a corner. City are penned in at the moment. After nearly three minutes, they’ve not touched the ball in the Wednesday half. From a second corner, Vestergaard lets Cadamarteri get the wrong side of him and the striker heads over from a few yards out. A high line from the opponent from start, pushing up with five players as it surprises Leicester.
5-10 minutes. City have their first attack and it’s Ayew to Soumare to Thomas, who ventures forward and inside and shoots from 25 yards. Charles getting down well to parry away. We’ve just had a Fatawu free-kick blazed over too. Meanwhile, the Wednesday fans are now making their way in, with City supporters treating them to a standing ovation. City are taking short goal kicks and they’re putting themselves under pressure. Wednesday are pressing them high. It’s fingertips from Stolarczyk to save City. A long throw causes chaos and Chalobah picks up the loose ball, bursting into the box. He hits an early shot on the bounce, the ball trundling towards the bottom corner. Stolarczyk dives low and gets the slightest of touches on it to divert the ball onto the post.
17-26 minutes. Vestergaard heads a deep corner back into the danger area, Justin keeps it alive and then El Khannouss fires back in from 20 yards. It’s inches past the post from the Moroccan. GOAL, 26 minutes, Sheffield Wednesday scores. The shot is deflected in and City trail. There were quite a few mistakes in there. Okoli, Thomas and Soumare all lost 50-50s and Valery was able to pull the ball back from the right to the edge of the box. With Soumare out wide and Skipp dropping deep, there’s nobody on the edge to stop Chalobah getting a free shot away. He hits it first time and Skipp flies in to try to block, getting a toe on the ball to divert it past Stolarczyk.
32-45 minutes. Only six minutes after he scored, Chalobah is off. He looks distraught. He’s picked up an injury and although not serious enough to require a stretcher, he doesn’t look at all happy. Close to the break City’s best chance of the half is on and it should have ended up in the net. A deep corner finds Okoli and he heads back across for Vestergaard storming in. Somehow he puts his header wide.
HALF TIME: LEICESTER 0, SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 1
46-60 minutes. With the full-backs moving inside, City do look vulnerable down the flanks on the break. A searching ball is picked up by Cadamarteri and he cuts inside Okoli, who can’t stop him. The strker then bends just over from 20 yards out. It’s where things are going to happen, so they need to get there as often as they can, and they’re doing so more this half already. Winks’ low cross finds Justin’s feet and he can’t quite turn inside the area to get a shot away and has to play it back. Moments earlier, a dangerous cross from El Khannouss nearly led to an own goal. GOAL, 54 minutes, City are level. El Khannouss goes low from the free-kick and it goes through legs to find Vestergaard in the middle of the box. He takes a touch to bring it under control, a second to side-step and then fires high into the net. City nearly get a second straight after as they counter through El Khannouss, who offloads to Mavididi. The winger dances into the box and his shot is saved by Charles’ shoulder.
64-76 minutes. City are looking more threatening. Monga on for Mavididi, and Faes on for Okoli. The Owls captain Barry Bannan slides in studs first on Winks and gets a second yellow card, having not long been booked for dissent. City will play against 10 men for the final 15 minutes plus added time.
79-90 minutes. Fatawu and Justin go off, so City now have two players up front. Leicester are without a right-back on the pitch and some players seem unsure what formation they’re playing, Faes asking questions of Cifuentes. Superb work by Ayew on the right to beat three men and cross for Daka. He heads the ball down and gets good power on it, but not troubling Charles as he saves the attempt. GOAL, 87 minutes Faes heads in a corner from El Khannouss to the near post. Nobody tracks Faes, who plants a header high into the net.
Stoppage Time, 9 minutes. A great one-two between Ayew and El Khannouss on the edge of the box. The Moroccan should score, but Charles denies him. City are pushing for a third to really kill this game off.
MAN OF THE MATCH: JANNIK VESTERGAARD
Jannik Vestergaard made a massive impression. Showing his worth in this game, scoring Leicester’s first vital goal, the 1-1 equalizer, . He commanded the Leicester defense with ease and great coolness. Fantastic passing and especially second half linking up greatly with Harry Winks. Winks coming on to change the rythm of the game and having total dominance. 8 of 10 possible points, being Leicester’s best player all over.
THE VITAL MOMENT
Wout Faes scoring the winner for Leicester on a special header from close range. Everything happening in the 87th minute. Assist from Bilal El Khannouss a corner kick.
Wout wins it! 💥 pic.twitter.com/G0AExZX9uc
— Leicester City (@LCFC) August 10, 2025
GOLD DUST
Number of chances created, XG, Possession, Effectiveness, Lack of Quality in the final face
Leicester created 6 big chances, The XG was 2,54. 75% Possession tells a story of just a few minor periods of Sheffield Wednesday having the ball. Chalobah had two fantastic chances, one pushed in the post by Stolarczyk, the other one went in. The Owls taking an early lead. Leicester had more ball possession than when they defeated Southampton 9-0.
They played against the same system, 3-5-2. The major difference was the flow of goals and that Leicester took an early lead. This would have seen Sheffield Wednesday most certainly having to become more open. One of the crucial situations in the game was the Luke Thomas shot after 6 minutes. This shot, if it has gone in, could have changed the game completly early on. Another crucial point was the man in goal for Sheffield Wednesday. The Northern Ireland international and Owls shotstopper, Pierce Charles, was the best player on the field, if you believe Sofascore, giving him 8,6 points. Jannik Vestergaard getting 8,4 and Bilal El Khannouss, 8,2. Another major difference was the red card vs. Southampton coming in the 12th minute.
Talking of quality in the final face, again having a top striker not playing the role to the full makes it difficult. Bilal El Khannouss often moving out and in of position instead of playing as that attacking central midfielder role. This can upset the play and movement. Looking at the heatmap you have the full view of what is going on. Ayew never really inside the box, El Khannouss operating a lot out wide, so it will not be enough players in the area were you should be to score goals.
Chalobah and Bannan
Chalobah was the shining player in midfield until he left the field after 32 minutes. He and Barry Bannan had control in that area, but still it was Leicester having the ball the most. In the first half, Leicester had 67% possession. They dominated the game. However, their movement and relational positioning were not the best. It was not fluid.
Skipp and Winks
Looking at the heatmap of Harry Winks he played more out right than what Harry Skipp did. He pushed closer to players to be able to be part of triangles as well as having that special through pass. He looked sharper on his passing. His movement was different to Oliver Skipp. Second half Leicester had 82% possession, Winks influential.
Movements and Directions.
El Khannouss and Ayew must create goals from their positions. The two had a great combination towards the very end of the game. A good save and a poor El Khannouss finish kept the score unchanged. Looking at the movement of Jamie Vardy you will see a different heatmap than we will get with Jordan Ayew. Marti Cifuentes discusses stretching the defence with the striker’s movement. However, Jordan Ayew often moves away from the penalty area. Looking at El Khannouss he is not a natural in the offensive midfield role. Switching positions a lot, as he moves in and out of different areas. Looking at two natural players in these two positions, Maddison and Vardy, you will see different movements in their heatmaps. Their movement creates distinct pockets and space. The natural route to a goal appears more complicated with Ayew and El Khannouss. Hopefully this will be addressed.
Goalkeeper analysed.
Stolarczyk made a crucial save and showed clever movement. He made only two saves in the game. One save was crucial and important for the result. This happened as the game was at an early stage. He pushed the ball in the post and out. Not a lot to do, but most touches and involvement were good and controlled.
The Leicester midfield movement and placement
The three men in the midfield area do not fit each ideally. Soumare and Skipp are not natural in their roles. None of them are ideal for the two defensive roles in midfield. They do not possess extreme skills in either position. Especially the box to box role often also described as the number 8, is one not really covered at the moment. Soumare and Skipp are not the ideal partnership. Hamza Choudhury should be looked at as a defensive alternative, of course having Skipp, Soumare and Winks as potential players to cover the box to box role, but none of them do have the engine to do it as we would like to see it, sorry. Winks might be the better alternative. Difficult and something to be addressed.
Analysing the style, how are Leicester attacking, defending and pressing?
Leicester came out on the wrong foot looking at the game in total. They did not really execute what Marti Cifuentes was talking about regarding how he wants his players to press. There are still a lot to work on regarding relational patterns and how to set up a team identity. Leicester are very much in limbo, being stretched in different directions. What we did see second half was far from what we had in the first half. As said earlier on, players are moving around on their own. It still looks far from a settled pattern and natural flow. Hopefully we will see more identity going forward. We are very early on. We can’t yet see a solid picture of what we will get from this team.
Vestergaard and Winks link up, special weapon
We did see this in the second half. The two had a good relation build up under Enzo Maresca. This was thrown in the bin by both Ruud and Steve Cooper. Looks as if Marti Cifuentes also have little or no knowledge for this relation. The two players had their own talk. This was a clear and solid weapon under Enzo. We did see glimps of it in the second half as the two were both on the field.
Set Pieces for and against
Both Leicester goals came from set pieces. That is of course good and we do understand that work is done in this department. The goal from the opponent came from open play. They were good on throw ins. The shot being pushed in the post by Stolarczyk was one starting with a long throw. Leicester do need to work on indivdual duels, surprisingly Okoli losing too many, one against one.
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
The Good; Jannik Vestergaard, up there were he belong
The Bad; Oliver Skipp, far from his best and often out of position, taken off after one half
The Ugly; Barry Bannan, sent off on 1-1, an uncontrolled tackle, the opponent going down to 10 men
SHERLOCK
Marti Cifuentes cleverness in acting up on failure and opponent struggles. Making a crucial change at half time, shifting Skipp and Winks. Then when Barry Bannan was sent off, pushing on all offensive strings making instant changes, gambling high and getting his reward.
MATCH STATS
Possession: H/A 65%-35%
Shots: H/A 16-9
Shots on target: H/A 6-4
Corners: H/A 10-2
Fouls: H/A 11-5
LINEUPS / SYSTEM / PLAYER RATINGS
LEICESTER CITY (4-2-3-1): Stolarczyk 7; Justin 6 (Daka), Vestergaard 8, Okoli 5 (Faes), Thomas; Skipp 4 (Winks 7 46′), Soumare 5, El Khannouss 7; Fatawu 7 (McAteer 78′), Ayew 7, Mavididi 6 (Monga 70′)
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY (5-3-2): Charles; Palmer, Iorfa, Otegbayo (Ugbo 90′), Valery (Kobacky 70′); Chaloba (Fusire 32′), Bannan, Ingesson (Palmer 70′); Cademarteri, Lowe (McNeil 90′)
THE OPPONENT
Opinion:
Their manager Henrik Pedersen commented that he was happy with their performances. Looking at the Local Newspaper Report they were really happy as well. They never had any hope or talk about winning. They were focused on the performance. They would have been happy with a point. Tactically it was close to perfect, having eyes on Leicester wingers. They doubled up on all situations. Mavididi and Fatawu had attempts but was often locked down. Monga had good attempts, runs as he managed to get around his opponents more often. The Owls were unlucky to miss two of their best players at a crucial time in the game. They also had good focus on the physical part of the game. They did well in duels, almost equaling Leicester on those stats.
CHECK YOUR FOOTBALL STORIES AND TRANSFER TALK
A TRUSTED SOURCE ON LEICESTER CITY NEWS
NEVER MISS OUR UPDATES ON
Be sure to visit our sister site Soccervoice
Leave a Reply