Rodgers provides clue to Leicester line-up in latest friendlies

There were two Leicester City friendlies contested simultaneously on Saturday, with a Brendan Rodgers-led Foxes team defeating Stoke City 2-1 and another City side drawing 2-2 at Rotherham United.

There was plenty to discuss from a Fantasy perspective and our Scout Notes article below rounds up the main talking points, as well as detailing the goalscorers, the assist-makers and the minutes played by each player.

Stoke City 1-2 Leicester City

• Goals: Marc Albrighton (£5.5m), Youri Tielemans (£6.5m)
• Assists: Ricardo Pereira (£6.0m), Ben Chilwell (£5.5m)

Rotherham United 2-2 Leicester City

• Goals: Kelechi Iheanacho (£6.0m) x2
• Assists: Harvey Barnes (£6.0m)

Brendan Rodgers provided Fantasy managers with a big clue as to his favoured starting XI as Leicester split their squad in two for a double-header against Stoke and Rotherham on Saturday.

The unquestionably stronger-looking side headed to the Potteries, with Rodgers overseeing a 2-1 win over Stoke.

Most of the names on the teamsheet at the Brittania Stadium were predictable but the inclusion of Marc Albrighton (£5.5m) over the likes of Harvey Barnes (£6.0m) and Demarai Gray (£5.5m) was perhaps telling.

Albrighton was the favoured option in the last four Gameweeks of 2018/19, starting all of Leicester’s matches in Gameweeks 35 to 38 after making his return from a hamstring injury as a substitute against Newcastle in Gameweek 34.

Gray and Barnes, by contrast, were both substitutes in Leicester’s last three fixtures of last season and it may well be that they again begin 2019/20 on the bench – barring any further injuries in the Foxes’ remaining pre-season fixture, of course.

Hamza Choudhury (£4.5m) started at the base of the Leicester midfield but it may be that he is merely a placeholder for Wilfred Ndidi (£5.0m), who has yet to feature for his side after his involvement with Nigeria in the Africa Cup of Nations this summer.

Ndidi has started all ten league matches under Rodgers’ stewardship so far, with Choudhury brought in alongside the Nigeria international when the Leicester boss opted for two defensive midfielders in matches against the ‘big six’.

Formation Experiment

While the personnel were fairly predictable at Stoke, the formation wasn’t.

Rodgers has largely favoured a 4-1-4-1 or 4-3-3 in his time in charge so far but chose Saturday’s match to experiment with a 4-4-2 diamond.

The final pre-season game against Atalanta on Friday may provide the ultimate signpost as to what system Rodgers opts for in Gameweek 1 but the Foxes’ head coach was content with the results of the weekend’s formation trial.

Rodgers said:

From a tactical perspective, we played with a different system. I was very pleased with how we functioned within that.

Stoke play with a diamond and their structure is very good. Nathan [Jones] is an excellent coach who has developed that system since he’s come in and they’ve played it a lot over the course of pre-season.

We played a system for the first game I was in (a 3-4-3 in the defeat to Watford) but I quickly recognised that I needed to simplify it, so we play 4-3-3 through to the end of the season, knowing that in pre-season I would get the opportunity to experiment both in training and in games.

I was so pleased, especially the second half when our passing was quicker. It’s not easy. You’ve got a stadium that’s a quarter full and it’s teeming down with rain but I thought the concentration was very good and we were able to find the spare man in the middle of the field. We worked on some movement patterns in order to do that.

So I think the players enjoyed it. It showed their adaptability because we want to have different ways that can surprise teams and it was a really good exercise for that.

Leicester’s back four was much the same as it was towards the back-end of last season but the positions of the players in front of them was worth noting.

Choudhury was stationed at the base of the midfield, with Albrighton to the left of him and the classy Youri Tielemans (£6.5m) to the right.

James Maddison (£7.0m) was deployed in ‘the hole’, meanwhile, with Jamie Vardy (£9.0m) joined up front by the fit-again Ayoze Perez (£6.5m).

Perez ‘out of position’

Having played and scored as an inverted winger/inside forward in the win over Scunthorpe earlier this month, Perez marked his return from injury at Stoke with a 90-minute run-out alongside Vardy in attack.

Reclassified as a Fantasy Premier League midfielder upon the game’s relaunch in June, Perez was always a candidate for an ‘out of position’ tag after making his £30m move from Newcastle United and so it came to pass in Staffordshire on Saturday.

The Spaniard arguably produced the most eye-catching display of the two Leicester strikers, although did drop deep on occasion to link up with the visitors’ midfield.

Both Perez and Vardy wasted decent openings in the first half, producing tame efforts when well-positioned in the centre of the Stoke box.

The fact that the Foxes’ strike pair were both involved in each other’s chance perhaps bodes well, however, with Perez teeing up Vardy for the former England international’s opportunity having earlier forced Jack Butland into a comfortable save when following up Vardy’s blocked shot.

Vardy perhaps hasn’t quite clicked into gear yet in pre-season, with one goal in four appearances thus far.

The premium FPL forward was still lively enough, though, and almost got on the scoresheet after the interval when rounding Butland and firing into the side-netting.

Maddison Alright

Having had his pre-season disrupted by his participation in the European Under-21 Championship, Maddison is now firmly back involved with the Leicester set-up and made his first start of the summer at the Brittania.

The mid-price FPL midfielder lasted the full 90 minutes and was one of the game’s stand-out players, testing Butland with a low strike in the first half and a direct free-kick after the break.

A role in ‘the hole’ is arguably Maddison at his best and there was further evidence of this in the Potteries, with the England international dictating play from a central position and again showing signs of a telepathic understanding with Vardy.

Forward-thinking full-backs

The narrow nature of City’s midfield in the 4-4-2 diamond (and, indeed, when Rodgers has played a 4-3-3/4-1-4-1 with inverted wingers) means there is plenty of room for Leicester’s two full-backs to exploit in attack.

Ben Chilwell (£5.5m) and Ricardo Pereira (£6.0m) were again given license to get forward and it was no surprise that both players banked assists on Saturday.

Albrighton opened the scoring with a brilliantly taken goal from a Pereira cross and, after Nick Powell had drawn Stoke level, Tielemans – with his first goal of pre-season – restored the visitors’ advantage when turning in Chilwell’s low ball.

Pereira said after the game:

Yes, I think the system is good for me because the way we play, the full-backs have the freedom to [go forward] and have the chance to help. I feel good and I’m always ready to help the team.

Former Leicester defender Matt Elliott, summarising the game, said of the Portuguese full-back:

He was the main outlet in the first half for sure and it was a bit of a mismatch on that far side of the pitch.

Pereira was having an absolute field day with no end results. He was hitting crosses in the box, but nothing was happening as a consequence.

In the second half, that proved to be different. He was there for Albrighton’s goal, he assisted in that. He was getting forward more and more regularly. He’s got such a good engine.

Not-so-great Dane

It was a mixed bag from Kasper Schmeichel (£5.0m) on Saturday, with the Leicester goalkeeper unable to register a second consecutive clean sheet after returning from his extended summer break.

The Denmark international saved a first-half penalty from Sam Vokes but was beaten by an overhit cross from Powell and twice passed straight to Stoke players when attempting to play the ball out from the back.

While his distribution may in itself be a worry on the clean sheet front, Schmeichel looked to exploit the opposition high press on one occasion when punting a long ball to Vardy – as he did with success in the win over Arsenal in Gameweek 36.

Mendy Injury

Leicester’s second string drew 2-2 with Rotherham in Saturday’s other game, with Kelechi Iheanacho (£6.0m) scoring twice.

Barnes and Gray flanked the Nigerian in attack, with the former providing the assist for Iheanacho’s first goal.

Nampalys Mendy (£4.5m) limped off early in the second half, with assistant manager Chris Davies saying:

I don’t know, it’s very difficult to tell at this stage. It will have to get assessed in the next couple of days and see where he is at.

He has had a great pre-season, he has done very well, Papy. It’s a shame he’s got that knock and has had to come off, but that’s football.

Leicester City XI v Stoke City (4-4-2 diamond): Schmeichel, Ricardo, Maguire, Evans, Chilwell, Choudhury, Perez, Tielemans, Maddison, Albrighton (Leshabela 76′), Vardy.

Leicester City XI v Rotherham United (4-1-4-1): Ward, Justin, Soyuncu, Morgan, Fuchs, Mendy (Amartey 48′), Gray, King, Silva (Ghezzal 55′), Barnes (Muskwe 84′), Iheanacho.