KEOWN TALKS TACTICS: Return of the razor-sharp Jamie Vardy can stop Leicester flatlining
Forty-one players have scored five or more goals in the Premier League this season and the most clinical finisher of all of them has been Jamie Vardy.
The Leicester striker has put away 32.7 per cent of his shots in 2019-20, whereas Tammy Abraham and Mohamed Salah are on 18.06 and 14.81 per cent respectively.
So when Brendan Rodgers was assessing how and why his team were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Aston Villa — despite having 43 shots to their opponents’ 12 and averaging 66 per cent possession over two legs — he will have noted Vardy’s limited influence.
Leicester hitman Jamie Vardy has the best conversion rate in the Premier League this season
Vardy is back to full fitness again and will give Leicester, who have struggled recently, a boost
The 33-year-old was described as ’80 per cent fit’ beforehand and benched for Tuesday’s second leg. Leicester created openings but could not find the finishes at Villa Park.
They lost 2-1 (3-2 on aggregate) and Rodgers’ long unbeaten run in domestic cups, that had gone on for 32 games, was over.
Leicester are perhaps also guilty of over-complicating things with the systems they switch between, sometimes mid-match at the instruction of the manager.
They’ve used 4-1-2-3 with the wingers either side of Vardy, and also 4-1-2-1-2 with James Maddison playing off the front two and two wide midfielders in Youri Tielemans and Dennis Praet.
Leicester could have done with Vardy at Villa on Tuesday but he was only 80 per cent fit
In the first leg against Villa, Rodgers opted for 3-5-2. In the second, he used 3-4-2-1, with two wing backs and Maddison and Ayoze Perez the two behind Kelechi Iheanacho.
This can keep opponents guessing but can also complicate things for yourselves, too. Rodgers will still be reeling from Tuesday’s loss.
That was a big chance for a trophy missed and they must turn their attention back to the top four.
Saturday’s clash with Chelsea is a battle between two teams who look comfortable in third and fourth, though rocky patches may have left them feeling less at ease lately.
Leicester have lost four of their last seven league games, while Chelsea have lost six of their last 12.
Now he’s back to sharpness, Antonio Rudiger and Co will have to be on their toes to stop him
Fit-again Vardy is expected to start. Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger, Frank Lampard’s centre-back pairing of choice recently, will expect Vardy to make those hard runs behind, with Maddison and Tielemans likely to be feeding him from midfield and Perez and Harvey Barnes out wide.
Leicester are exciting to watch and this should be a cracker. The top five in the table are also the top five teams for possession, shots and chances created — Liverpool, Manchester City, Leicester, Chelsea and Manchester United.
Lampard’s players have picked up more points away than at home so will believe they can win. But Leicester are boosted by the return of Vardy, who is the reason Leicester boast the best shot conversion rate of any top-flight club. Overall Rodgers’ players score from 15.4 per cent of their shots.
By comparison, Chelsea rank 13th in the Premier League, on 10.3 per cent. Being clinical in front of goal could prove the difference on Saturday.
