Leicester City FC have a big season ahead. With Brendan Rodgers at the helm and fresh talent in the squad, Leicester will look to break into the top six this season. Here is your Leicester City season preview for the 2019/20 campaign.
Leicester City Season Preview
Manager’s Philosophy
Leicester have played an expansive brand of football under Brendan Rodgers as opposed to Claude Puel’s conservative approach. Rodgers prefers a possession-oriented attacking philosophy.
He’s looked to set up his side in a similar manner to how Pep Guardiola has designed the Manchester City team. Deploying a holding midfielder (usually the excellent Wilfred Ndidi), the centre backs remain well protected and the team looks to push up with the ball.
This gives full-backs Ben Chilwell and Ricardo Pereira the opportunities to maraud forward and join the attack. Both players have shown excellent offensive numbers since Rodgers’ arrival at the club.
The midfield has had a real injection of creativity and freshness. Youri Tielemans and James Maddison have generated great output in terms of numbers. The two midfielders ahead of the holding midfielder look to operate in spaces between the lines and press when out of possession.
They also take turns in joining the attack with Jamie Vardy who looks to run in behind the opposition defences. Brendan Rodgers has shown that although he likes his teams to have the ball, he’s not obsessed with it.
Against the more celebrated sides, he’s seen adapting by employing another destructive midfielder (usually Hamza Choudhury) for either Tielemans or Maddison. This prevents the side from being predictable and ensures flexibility in approach for the coach.
Squad Depth
Leicester City’s upcoming season has a clear structure in terms of how their team will play possession-based and compact at the back. They have also built a squad to make this system a durable one.
In Ayoze Perez, they have signed an able second striker. Leicester has strength in depth in midfield with Adrien Silva, Daniel Amartey, Demarai Gray and Harvey Barnes being thorough professionals who are motivated to perform.
The side does not even lack leadership as Kasper Schmeichel, Wes Morgan, Jonny Evans and Christian Fuchs continue their journeys with the Foxes. The only doubt in the scenario will be the impact of potentially losing Harry Maguire to Manchester United.
But the club has lined up more than decent replacements like Lewis Dunk from Brighton & Hove Albion. The club already has Evans, Morgan and young Caglar Soyuncu to play in the heart of the defence.
Prediction
Leicester City have all the ingredients to do well in the upcoming season. They have a settled coach, a packed squad and trusting ownership.
Their squad has the necessary quality but also the grit and experience required to manage a Premier League season. Leicester also don’t have any European distractions like their competitors Wolverhampton Wanderers do.
Everton and West Ham United will provide competition to them. Consistency will be key for all three clubs. But Leicester has an edge, it’s been there and done it. LCFC will surely be looking to give the top six a run for their money.
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