Leicester City have been indebted to goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel in recent weeks.
The Danish stopper produced a string of impressive saves in the Foxes’ 2-1 success against Brighton and Hove Albion at the weekend. However, despite his great form between the sticks, at 34 years of age, the former Manchester City and Leeds United stopper is not going to last forever.
Luckily, Brendan Rodgers has a ready-made replacement at his disposal; on-loan Preston North End man Daniel Iversen.
Rated at just £540k, the 23-year-old stopper has continued to defy his paltry valuation with a number of impressive performances.
He has been the undisputed No.1 at Deepdale since his arrival in January, playing 12 Championship matches and keeping four clean sheets. This form with the Lilywhites has come on the back of impressive temporary spells at Rotherham United and Oldham Athletic.
Even his current manager, Alex Neil, has suggested that there would be a “struggle to find better” shot-stoppers than Iversen in the Championship this season.
It is only natural then that comparisons with his compatriot Schmeichel occur, especially with the two potentially vying for the No.1 shirt at the King Power Stadium in the near future.
Who should be Leicester City No.1?
Kasper Schmeichel
Danny Ward
Eldin Jakupovic
Daniel Iversen
Ironically, the duos’ similarities do not just end at their nationality; their numbers are extremely similar throughout the 2020/21 season.
According to SofaScore, Iversen makes 2.8 saves per game, with Schmeichel surprisingly lower at 2.6, albeit in the Premier League.
The latter has a clean sheet rate of 32%, whilst the 23-year-old’s sits just slightly higher at 33% – extremely similar numbers.
Despite that, the youngster has already committed two errors leading to goals with Preston this season, however, that erratic nature should be snuffed out as he continues to develop.
Iversen’s distribution redeems him somewhat. Schmeichel’s accuracy when passing into the opposition half sits at just 2.4%, whilst Iversen’s is far better at 5.7%.
Despite the former Esbjerg fB stopper suggesting that he desires another temporary loan move away from the King Power Stadium next season, now might be the right time for him to challenge Schmeichel.
If he does that, he should be ready to step into the vacancy when the Foxes’ stalwart eventually hangs up his gloves.
AND in more news, Dean Windass has said that Leicester can secure second in the Premier League this season despite their injury woes…