The sacking of Claude Puel has placed the Fantasy Premier League appeal of Leicester City in a limbo state.
With no word on a potential replacement at the King Power Stadium, it is hard to pass judgement on what effect the Frenchman’s departure will have.
While the Foxes have traditionally experienced an upturn in the aftermath of shaking off another manager, there are still a lot of unknowns.
We have looked at the options available at Leciester after their unfortunate defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace in Blank Gameweek 27.
Leicester 1-4 Crystal Palace
Goals: Jonny Evans (£4.8m) | Michy Batshuayi (£6.5m), Wilfried Zaha x2 (£6.7m), Luka Milivojevic (£6.2m)
Assists: Harvey Barnes (£5.5m) | James McArthur x2 (£4.8m), Jeffrey Schlupp (£4.4m), Jordan Ayew (£5.7m)
The new Leicester City manager has an opportunity to truly get the best of some appealing Fantasy options, although things are, as already mentioned, a little unclear at this point. In Puel’s final game at the King Power Stadium, it was another Foxes performance that promised so much but delivered little.
Just as was the case against Spurs, Leicester dominated the shot count but scored only once. James Maddison (£6.6m) perhaps showed the most potential for Fantasy points under the new manager as he topped the charts for goal threat and creativity against Crystal Palace. No player in the entire Gameweek had more than his nine shots, while only Robert Snodgrass (£5.0m) played more key passes this weekend than the former Norwich City man. However, his expected goal involvement (xGI) for those efforts were just 0.56, quite low considering the volume of shots and key passes. That might be enough to put some of Maddison for now, at least until we know what the new manager can get out of him.
Meanwhile, Harvey Barnes (£5.5m) had five efforts of his own and got his second Fantasy returns since returning from a loan at West Bromwich Albion. That was an assist for Jonny Evans‘ (£4.8m) second-half strike. The youngster was heavily involved in attacking play as Puel targetted Crystal Palace’s right flank with injuries to Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.6m) and Martin Kelly (£3.9m).
As Leicester’s two strongest threats against Crystal Palace, and in recent weeks, it seems very likely that both Maddison and Barnes will keep their places under the new manager.
It is hard to tell where Demarai Gray (£5.4m) will figure as his role in the Leicester side was never particularly certain under Puel. Deployed as a striker against Tottenham, he was left on the bench for the Palace game, replacing Rachid Ghezzal (£5.0m) at half-time after another anonymous performance from the Algerian. Who will hold down that place in the Leicester team under the new manager is very much up in the air.
Ricardo Pereira‘s (£5.4m) has obviously been used there sporadically during Puel’s time at the helm, which was one of the reasons why he was so heavily signed for Blank Gameweek 27. We have to admit that at the current time, the former Porto man’s Fantasy prospects are very much shrouded in uncertainty. Because it was never clear whether Puel would deploy him in defence or attack, we will have to wait for a few matches under the new manager to pass by before we know if he’ll continue to play in an advanced role.
It is obvious that Pereira is needed in defence with Daniel Amartey (£4.3m) injured and Danny Simpson (£4.2m) showing earlier this season that he is woefully lacking in match fitness. However, with no player particularly impressing on the right of midfield, and Marc Albrighton (£5.1m) out injured, Pereira’s services could still be required further forward. But, as already mentioned, the crucial thing is that we don’t know yet.
Meanwhile, things are starting to look concrete at Crystal Palace as they are now unbeaten in seven of their last eight matches against sides outside the top six.
Michy Batshuayi (£6.5m) got a first goal for the club as he made his full debut and now appears to be top of the pecking order for the centre-forward position. No Eagles player had more shots than him against Leicester. Some thought there was an element of fortune about the Belgian’s strike at the King Power Stadium after James McArthur‘s (£4.8m) initial shot but upon closer inspection, it did look as if Batshuayi applied a deliberate touch to the ball.
“It was an element of skill there, but of course it was fortunate because it was against the run of play. His performance today was really good in every respect. Not just offensively, it was a good performance defensively. We blocked off a lot of passes into central midfield that they would like to play because he dropped deep and made it difficult for them by screening off the central midfield players.” – Roy Hodgson
Wilfried Zaha (£6.7m) has succeeded in trying to add more goals to his game, netting twice against Leicester. The Ivory Coast international now has four in as many Gameweeks and looks increasingly dangerous with each passing match. Going into Gameweek 28’s clash with Manchester United at Selhurst Park, no player has more touches in opposition penalty boxes in the last four home matches as Zaha.
“It’s something he’s been talking about and promising he will do. He thinks that he needs to be scoring more goals but that the third one in three games. I thought he took both of the goals well. The first one needed a solid side-foot because Schmeichel was ready on the line but it was close and a solid strike would score and he got it. The last one which put the game totally to bed was a really good strike at goal and it was the sheer power which beat Schmeichel on that occasion.” – Roy Hodgson
Also worthy of some attention is McArthur, who provided two assists on Saturday. He now has three in his last two outings.
Elsewhere, there may some hope for Manchester United assets as they travel to Selhurst Park on Wednesday night. While Palace have been defensively strong at home this season, they could be hosting the Red Devils short of some key personnel. As already mentioned, Wan-Bissaka and Kelly were missing in Gameweek 27, and Mamadou Sakho (£4.9m) is now a doubt for Gameweek 28. He was taken off at Leicester with a knee issue that had kept him out of FA Cup action against Doncaster.
“He missed a lot of training and didn’t play against Doncaster Rovers as a result of feeling the knee in the West Ham game so he was out for a week having treatment, but he trained all of this week in the lead up to this game. But obviously, he felt the knee again today. So we will have to reassess it on Monday and hope for the best.” – Roy Hodgson
Leicester City XI (4-3-3): Schmeichel; Fuchs, Maguire, Evans, R Pereira; Maddison, Ndidi, Tielemans (Iheanacho 74′); Barnes (Okazaki 85′), Vardy, Ghezzal (D Gray 45′).
Crystal Palace XI (4-3-3): Guaita; van Aanholt, Sakho (Dann 77′), Tomkins, Ward; Schlupp, Milivojevic, McArthur; Zaha, Batshuayi (Ayew 86′), Townsend (Kouyaté 80′).
