Written By: Robin Van Paassen
Edited By: Jovan Popovic & Zein Rahman
While Leicester City may not be quite on their way to repeat their 2015/16 fairy tale run to their first Premier League triumph, a Champions League spot is undoubtedly in reach. Manchester City may very well secure the title if they succeed in defending their 14-point lead. In the distance, Manchester United and Leicester City are trampling over each other's cleats for second, they are climbing for the top with 56 and 57 points, respectively.
Hypothetically, if Manchester City were to drop 13 points in their last eight games while Manchester United drop just two points in their coming nine games, Leicester City has a fraction of a chance to finish on top by a single point. However, a far-fetched shot at winning the title is not what Leicester fans are optimistic about as this campaign comes to a close. Rather promising signs of a striker's resurgence in performance are coming to fruition; Kelechi Iheanacho is back. At a staggering 30-million-dollar price tag, the Manchester City striker came unconvincingly, but the road ahead looks to be auspicious.
After suffering a 3-1 blow to an inconsistent Arsenal on matchday 26, Leicester perhaps foreshadowed a gap in their defense of a top-three finish for title race contenders to eclipse. However, quite the opposite unraveled. Despite further misfortune occurring as talisman Harvey Barnes went off on injury and mediocre team performance, a blossoming partnership upfront began cultivating. Combining with veteran striker Jamie Vardy, Iheanacho and Vardy partnered up to form a dynamic duo. The new partnership delivered quickly, culminating in positive results in the following fixtures.
Severely depleted in midfield due to injuries to crucial player makers such as Harvey Barnes, James Maddison, and Cengiz Under, Iheanacho had tall orders to fill in pursuit of keeping Leicester afloat. Brendan Roger's tactic shifted from one to two centre forwards to offload the midfield's sparse line. The tactical shift was evidently effective; Iheanacho and Vardy became a lethal partnership in the final third. With a massive deficit of 54% of all goal contributions sidelined to injury, Iheanacho proved pivotal, having hit the ground running.
Iheanacho quickly claimed a starting 11 position as a lethal finisher for the Foxes, finding the net in each of the next four matches. Against Burnley, a one-time finish saw Iheanacho level a fourth-minute goal to escape with a single point against the bottom half-side. A rigorous test followed from Brighton, which saw Leicester come out 2-1. A decisive winner from Daniel Amartey capped the night off, but not before Iheanacho had bagged one himself. An explosive one-sided clash against a relegation battling Sheffield United side had Iheanacho written all over it. Iheanacho did not hold back against Sheffield United as he split their defense wide-open, claiming a hattrick of three absolute crackers in a stunning 5-0 victory. He would earn himself a man of the match award and achieved a perfect 10/10 rating (WhoScored.com).
Performing well against bottom half-sides was one thing, but showing prowess against a top-five side, is uncharted territory for most strikers. With bolstered confidence, Iheanacho fired on all cylinders once again against a resilient Manchester United. He would finish having scored a brace and assisting another in the FA cup while handing United a quarter-final exit in the form of a 3-1 score line.
Mesmerizing performances in March may very well land Iheanacho a Premier League Player of the Month award, but the journey has just begun. Consistency remains the key to Iheanacho's presence on the pitch. With only 388 minutes across the entire 2020-2021 Premier League campaign, and 337 of them coming across the end of February until the end of March, it may be a telling sign that Iheanacho is worthy of more than $30 million on the bench.
The next obstacle for Leicester and Iheanacho is performing against the steam-rolling Manchester City side. A vivid memory of a 5-2 poaching on a weakened City is in distant blurs, as City has drastically strived past through adversity since a tumbling start to the season. Vardy and Iheanacho have a lot on their plate against a watertight defense with a league-leading of only 21 goals allowed. Synergy flowing Leicester may get going and edging out the Cityzens is foreseeable. A win in part relies on Iheanacho's performance matching up to Manchester City’s doppelganger, Gabriel Jesus.
With the Manchester City counterpart Gabriel Jesus on the turf, Iheanacho can demonstrate how he stacks up to his Manchester successor. Head-to-head they have similar skills, both with superb finishing, headed attempts, and passing. In eight starts and 727 minutes, Iheanacho has six goals while Jesus has 15 full 90s, playing a combined 1481 minutes, bagging seven goals and three assists. For passing, Iheanacho and Jesus complete 80.8 % and 83.9 % of all passes successfully. Playing down the stretch, Jesus creates a monstrous 1.12 more shot-creating actions per 90 with 2.98. Though Jesus may rank higher in stats with an arguably more star-studded squad, the fate is in Iheanacho’s hands to maintain consistency and continue to prove his quality as a starter and guide Leicester to the future trophies as Vardy retires.
References
- https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/leicester-city-injury-manchester-united-5065082
- https://www.transfermarkt.us/premier-league/spieltagtabelle/wettbewerb/ GB1?saison_id=2020&spieltag=29
- https://www.transfermarkt.us/kelechi-iheanacho/leistungsdaten/spieler/295330
- https://www.transfermarkt.us/harvey-barnes/profil/spieler/398065
- https://fbref.com/en/stathead/player_comparison.cgi?show_form=1&request=1&sum=0&comp_type=by_type&dom_lg=1&player_id1=c92e1a31&p1yrfrom=2020-2021&player_id2=b66315ae&p2yrfrom=2020-2021
- https://www.transfermarkt.us/james-maddison/profil/spieler/294057
- https://www.whoscored.com/Players/289253/Show/Kelechi-Iheanacho
- https://www.whoscored.com/Players/279379/Show/Gabriel-Jesus
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