Three key Leicester City selection decisions for Enzo Maresca in tense test Club football returns on Friday night when Leicester City face fellow relegated side and Championship promotion contender Southampton on the south coast.
Southampton
Leicester City return to action on Friday night against the only Championship team that has more possession control than them.
Southampton has averaged 70% possession in their first five games, while City has averaged 65%. But that won’t change Enzo Maresca’s strategy.
He has stated that his squad intends to maintain its identity, with the only changes being the tweaks he makes each week to try to make City more efficient on and off the ball.
“The battle is to win the game,” remarked Maresca. “Controlling the game with the ball is our identity.” At the same time, the primary goal is to win games.
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“You can clearly see what they (Southampton) are looking for, which is to control the game with the ball like us.” We are currently the two teams with the ball. We’ll aim to keep the ball as much as possible.
“We try to change every game in terms of on the ball to find different solutions and different spaces, and off the ball to see how we can be aggressive.”
As a result, City’s typical configuration, a 4-1-4-1 out of possession but a 3-2-4-1 on the ball, is set to remain in place. However, this does not imply that the personnel will remain unchanged. Here are Maresca’s top three selection decisions before of the encounter at St Mary’s.
Coady v. Vestergaard
Conor Coady has completed over a week of training and is now eligible for selection. Maresca admits that he is not 100 percent fit. But he is so vital that it doesn’t matter.
So Coady will almost certainly be on the bench for the first time, but whether he will be in the starting lineup remains to be seen. Is Jannik Vestergaard a better player than Coady, who is just short of a perfect score? It’s a difficult one.
Vestergaard is carrying out the duties assigned to him by Maresca. The manager is aware of Vestergaard’s poor transition, but it is not so serious that he should be dropped at the first opportunity, with modifications and improvements made in that area since the win over Coventry.
Because the game is against Southampton, one of the top teams in the league, it may not be the best game for Coady to make his debut, in case there is still some rustiness, and so he may make his debut as a substitute late in the game.
Ndidi versus Casadei
Cesare Casadei’s strong performances as a substitute in his three Championship appearances have prompted fans to clamor for him to start in place of Wilfred Ndidi. It appears that it will come for the Italian someday, but perhaps not yet.
With Southampton keeping the ball so well, Maresca may prefer to stay with Ndidi, who is stronger out of possession. Casadei has proved that he is good on the ball and makes solid runs into offensive areas, but when it comes to pressing and tracking runners, Ndidi’s defensive qualities make him the better player, therefore the Nigerian may be kept.
