Leicester City have had a very average couple of years in the Premier League since their miraculous league title in 2016, finishing 9th last season, and this season they will be hoping to kick on and qualify for Europe once again.
Brendan Rodgers led his men to a 9th place finish last season losing only 3 games after he took over in February, one of those against an on-fire Man City. Leicester find themselves very much stuck in the middle pack of clubs all fighting for 7th place with the likes of Wolves and Everton, but Leicester will be hoping to continue the run of form brought to them by Brendan Rodgers and get to 7th place and a European qualification spot as that is realistically the next step for this very promising Leicester side.
Leicester have built a very solid squad with depth and talent throughout and they will be hoping to try and regain some of the joy from 2016, predictably not quite to that extent, but European qualification will be the goal for this season, and maybe a feint challenge for 6th.
Pre-season form
Jul 16 | Scunthorpe United 0-1 Leicester City | A Pérez (R Pereira assist)
Jul 20 | Cheltenham Town 1-2 Leicester City| Vardy (Tielemans assist), Albrighton (Mendy assist)
Jul 23 | Cambridge United 0-3 Leicester City | Maguire (Chilwell assist), Iheanacho (H Barnes assist), Choudhury
Jul 27 | Stoke City 1-2 Leicester City | Albrighton (R Pereira assist), Tielemans (Chilwell assist)
Jul 27 | Rotherham United 2-2 Leicester City | Iheanacho (H Barnes assist), Iheanacho
Aug 2 | Leicester City 2-1 Atalanta | Pérez (R Pereira assist), Vardy (Fuchs assist)
Pre-season form has been a success for Leicester with 5 wins and 1 draw from their 6 games, admittedly there is a distinct lack of any real test, with only Atalanta being a top division side let alone any type of big European test. However, some very obvious stand out performers Iheanacho (three goals), R Pereira (three assists), Albrighton (two goals), Pérez (two goals), Vardy (two goals), Tielemans (one goal, one assist), H Barnes (two assists), Chilwell (two assists). These are some very good contributions from all around the pitch. Although, a there is not a lot to be taken from Iheanacho’s 3 goals as they’ve all come against League1/2 opposition. But with contributions from big from Pereira and Chilwell which could prove big players for anyone FPL teams this year.
Star Man – Jamie Vardy (£9.0)
Needless to say, Jamie Vardy is the start man for Leicester and has been ever since Riyad Mahrez, he has been their top scorer for the last few years and is almost ever present for Leicester with a minimum 161 points over the last 4 season’s with a huge 211 points in 2015/16. Last season, Vardy scored 18 goals and go 5 assists to total 174 points and with the kind of player Vardy is and the effectiveness of his play style, everyone can see that happening again. Jamie Vardy’s last season haul comes in 14 points higher than his compatriot Harry Kane, and for £2.0m less, it seems like a bit of a no-brainer.
Furthermore, Leicester have added some creativity to their midfield over the last season and a half with Maddison, Tielemans and Perez, I can only imagine the number of chances being created for Vardy will increase and hopefull this season Vardy can crack the 20 goal mark once again.
Hidden Gem – Ricardo Pereira (£6.0m)
The Portuguese wing back had a huge debut season in the Premier League, scoring the 10th most points of any defender last season in his first season. Scoring 2 goals getting 8 assists and bombing forward at every opportunity meant that Pereira was a must have last season and hopefully can be again this year. Leicester also kept 10 clean sheets last season which wasn’t a bad total but hopefully with the development of Chilwell and Pereira there are a few less goals going in.
Also, with no right back behind Pereira in the Leicester squad, and Marc Albrighton being the only possible cover, it would surprise me is Pereira was almost ever present for the Foxes this season. This combined with his attacking nature, means that he may be overlooked by quite a lot of people, especially in your draft leagues, or if you are filling up your team with premium defenders.
Gamble Pick – Ayoze Perez (£6.0m)
After signing for Leicester for £30m this summer, it is probably fairly obvious that the Spaniard is firmly in Rodgers’ plans for the season. After the end to the season he had last year, Perez was in most teams for the run-in, and anyone that got him early enough was sure to make a late run for their league title. If Perez can continue this run of form he ended last season with, he is a must have for only £6.0.
One major advantage for Perez is that he has been categorised as midfielder in FPL this year despite being a very attacking player meaning he will gain a lot of points extra just because of those extra midfielder points. Perez has been deployed in a range of positions this pre-season, on the left, or the right and through the middle in a pair with Vardy, bagging two goals in the process. With this variation in his role, suggests Rodgers will be moving Perez about but utilising him a lot throughout the season, and for £6.0m he could end up being on of the top points per million players at the end of the season, IF he can carry on this form.
Predicted Line-up
Schmeichel
Pereira – Evans – Söyüncü – Chilwell
Ndidi – Tielemans
Perez – Maddison – Albrighton
Vardy
Written by Haych (@HarvSanderson)
