Leicester City’s return to Premier League action did not go the way they wished after falling to a 2-0 defeat to leaders Manchester City on Saturday.
Second-half strikes from Benjamin Mendy and Gabriel Jesus sealed a deserved reverse for Brendan Rodgers’ men on a thoroughly underwhelming evening.
Up against Pep Guardiola’s men, it was a poor afternoon for the UEFA Champions League hopefuls but they certainly were not helped by a woeful performance from Jamie Vardy.
Who was worst vs Man City?
Jamie Vardy
Marc Albrighton
Kelechi Iheanacho
Somebody else?
Predictably leading the line for the hosts, he eventually had just 14 touches of the ball throughout the game according to WhoScored. Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel shockingly had 40 more than that, highlighting just how anonymous the Foxes’ striker was.
Even when the £9m-rated forward did get the ball, he was simply not able to affect the game in any way – a dramatic drop off from the exhilarating treble that he plundered against the same opponents earlier in the campaign.
Vardy did not have a single shot during his 90 minutes, whilst he could only complete eight passes, none of them being key. For context, substitutes James Maddison and Ricardo Pereira, who were both introduced at the 70-minute mark, each completed 12 and eight of their own respectively.
Meanwhile, the 34-year-old striker also served to frustrate his teammates. He gave the ball away twice, and got caught offside on a further two occasions – the former of which saw him round Ederson and tap into an unguarded net for what potentially could have been a Leicester opener in the half but it was ruled out.
Now having scored just once in his previous 13 Premier League matches, Vardy did not look anywhere near ending that particular poor record on Saturday against Manchester City.
Brendan Rodgers will certainly have expected more than the poor display from his usually reliable forward.
AND in more news, find out which defensive colossus the Foxes must keep in the East-Midlands…