Leicester City 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Goals: Jamie Vardy (£10.1m)
- Assists: Dennis Praet (£5.5m)
- Bonus: Rui Patricio (£5.5m) x3, Wesley Fofana (£5.0m) x2, Christian Fuchs (£4.5m) x1
Jamie Vardy (£10.1m) scored one penalty and missed another as Leicester City moved to the top of the table for the international break.
The 20.7%-owned striker delivered just the four points because of his miss – or more accurately Wolves keeper Rui Patricio‘s (£5.5m) save – but it wasn’t all mixed news for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
Backline Bonuses
Vardy made it three straight Gameweeks of attacking returns, although more managers enjoyed the clean sheet points delivered by the match’s most popular player, James Justin (£4.8m and 21.8%).
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers opted for three centre-halves and wing-backs against Wolves, which meant a bumper round of points for the shut-out.
Apart, that is, from the unlucky 0.2% who had Luke Thomas (£4.3m) in their teams as he was replaced at half-time by Marc Albrighton (£5.3m) in a bid to stem the tide of Wolves attacks down the home side’s left flank.
Three key defenders remain out injured for Leicester, and there was a further scare when veteran Jonny Evans (£5.5m) went down late in the game after being hit by a shot.
Rodgers delivered an update on Evans after the game:
Fuchsy (Christian Fuchs) took the shot from the corner that came out and he smashed it at goal and it hit him in the back of his head. So he’s a bit blurred in his vision. His back is obviously sore, but it was another colossal performance by him.
Equally impressive was newcomer Wesley Fofana (£5.0m). who again caught the eye (and brought in bonus for the first time) in a defence that has kept two clean sheets and conceded only twice in the four matches he’s started.
Liverpool away is next up for the Foxes, but the four fixtures that follow – FUL shu BHA EVE – suggest investment in one of Leicester’s well-drilled defence could reap Fantasy rewards.
Mixed Midfield Messages
Buying into other players in a team that’s won six straight games in all competitions seems wise, but finding the right purchase among Leicester’s midfielders is not entirely obvious.
Despite scoring against Leeds in Gameweek 7, Harvey Barnes (£6.9m) only made it onto the pitch for the last 18 minutes on Sunday.
James Maddison (£7.0m) did start, but blanked, as did the 15-point hero of that Leeds match, Youri Tielemans (£6.4m).
Maddison played in a more advanced role than Tielemans, but it was the Belgian who provided more attacking threat.
The key middle man against Wolves turned out to be Dennis Praet (£5.5m), who was given the assist for a hotly-disputed penalty award that was only awarded following a dose of VAR.
It was the Belgian’s second assist of the season and fitted in neatly with the theme of the season among the Foxes’ midfield – that of an even distribution of points.
Tielemans and Barnes have scored 34 points each this season, with Praet on 28 and Maddison, who’s missed a large chunk of minutes, back on 22.
The fact that none of the quartet can currently be found in the top 10 of FPL midfielders suggests managers might wish to tap into Leicester’s good form in other areas of the team.
Wasteful Wolves
Seeing as Wolves (four) and Leicester (three) are in the top two for clean sheets this season, it was hardly surprising the match was an affair short of attacking action.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were denied another shut-out by a questionable handball call involving Max Kilman (£4.3m).
But at least the 14.1% of managers with the bargain boy in their squads could at least be pleased that he was handed a fifth straight start.
The 17.2% still hanging onto striker Raul Jimenez (£8.5m) must be getting twitchy after a second straight blank and a horrible-looking run of fixtures to come over the next eight Gameweeks.
The coach was pleased with a decent showing from his side after the break:
In the second half, we dominated the game. We moved the ball well; we were balanced and we had some chances. Not enough as we wish, but we had some situations that we felt the draw was there.
The problem for Wolves at present is they’re part boring, part wasteful.
Their 91 attempts is mid-table stuff, and an 8.4 minutes per chance average slightly worse.
But only the bottom four sides have scored fewer goals than the eight Wolves have managed.
The key issue is a lack of quality in front of goal. Just one team, Brighton (26.7%), have a worse shot accuracy figure than Wolves’ 27.5%.
Jimenez has had one shot over the last two Gameweeks and with high-flying Southampton up next, followed by trips to Arsenal and Liverpool, the future’s not looking much rosier for the striker, or indeed the whole team.
Leicester XI (3-4-2-1): Schmeichel; Fofana, Evans, Fuchs; Thomas (Albrighton 45), Mendy, Tielemans, Justin; Praet (Morgan 80), Maddison (Barnes 72); Vardy.
Wolves XI (3-4-2-1): Patrício; Boly, Coady, Kilman; Semedo, Neves, Dendoncker, Ait-Nouri (Marcal 76); Neto (Silva 79), Podence (Traore 60); Jiménez.
Lessons Learned from FPL Gameweek 8
- Brighton and Hove Albion 0-0 Burnley
- Southampton 2-0 Newcastle United
- Everton 1-3 Manchester United
- Crystal Palace 4-1 Leeds United
- Chelsea 4-1 Sheffield United
- West Ham United 1-0 Fulham
- West Bromwich Albion 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur
- Leicester City 1-0 Wolves
- Manchester City 1-1 Liverpool
- Arsenal 0-3 Aston Villa
