Two fine goals in extra time hand Leicester City a much-needed confidence boost as the FA Cup fourth round finally draws to a close, along with a seemingly inevitable blank for both the Foxes and their Gameweek 28 opponents Arsenal.
Leicester 3 Derby 1
Leicester scored and won at home for the first time in 2017 on a long night of contrasts in their FA Cup fourth round replay.
Claudio Ranieri made 10 changes to the side that lost to Manchester United – only Ahmed Musa kept his place – but such has been the Foxes’ awful start to the year that the team was not so much weakened as remodelled by the Italian.
And at least one player, man of the match Demarai Gray, made a strong case for a continued run in the side.
After a first half of almost exquisite tedium, the tie came alive when Andy King put the home side ahead from a Marc Albrighton assist.
Derby equalised from a deflected free-kick to force extra time before Wilfred Ndidi took substitute Riyad Mahrez’s pass in his stride and lashed a shot in off the post for his first goal for the Foxes.
And Gray put the tie to bed with a fine individual goal six minutes from the end.
The winger has started two of Leicester’s last three league matches and, at 4.8 and with just 0.5% ownership, offers some promise as a budget midfielder as the Foxes embark on a set of more favourable fixtures.
A home match with Liverpool and a trip to Arsenal aside, the champions face a good run all the way up to Gameweek 34, with Hull City, Stoke City and Sunderland at the King Power and away fixtures at Swansea City, West Ham, Everton and Crystal Palace.
The return to fitness of striker Islam Slimani following his stint at the Africa Cup of Nations was another plus point for Leicester.
But their parlous form is not the only reason to suggest caution, however.
Ranieri’s side face Millwall in the FA Cup fifth round. Win that and their Gameweek 28 trip to the Emirates will be postponed. And seeing as Arsenal, barring an upset of historic proportions at Sutton United, should also make it through, that Gameweek 28 blank for both sides looks almost inevitable.
Throw in the resumption of Champions League duties on February 22 and March 14 – before matches with Liverpool and West Ham respectively – and fixture congestion weakens the case for investing in Leicester assets still further.
Leicester City XI: Zieler, Amartey, Wasilewski, Benalouane, Chilwell, King, Mendy, (Ndidi 90), Albrighton, Kapustka (Mahrez 81), Gray, Musa (Slimani 90).
Subs not used: Drinkwater, Hamer, Okazaki, Fuchs.
