MARTIN KEOWN TALKS TACTICS: It Could Be 2016 Again If Vardy Strikes At Half Time – Ghana Latest Football News, Live Score, Results



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Brendan Rodgers will have been studying his diary and observing the number of games his players face as Leicester City fights on three fronts. They are three games away from winning the FA Cup and nine from the Europa League.

They have 15 Premier League games remaining and have risen to a position where they are not only the top four contenders, but could also have a significant voice in the title race.

Rodgers will need to use the depth of his team if he wants to compete in all competitions.

It will test these players to the limit. In 2015-16, when Leicester became the 5,000-1 champion, they averaged one game per week. That meant they had time to recover, plan and attack the Premier League.

That is not possible now. Rodgers’ players could become victims of their own success, and today is a huge game for both Leicester and Liverpool.

A good result could act as a stepping stone. Liverpool are 27 points worse than at the same stage last season, and Jurgen Klopp says they are not in the running for the title. However, a victory against a direct rival could boost reconstruction.

Liverpool will be looking to dictate the game and put their high pressure on Leicester, but Rodgers has shown he knows how to beat possession-based teams this season. He doesn’t mind having deep seated next to them and, in Jamie Vardy, they have someone ready to take on the balls at the top.

Leicester have had less than 50 percent possession in nine games this season and won eight of them, only losing to today’s opponents at Anfield in November.

That included beating Manchester City 5-2 with 28.3 percent possession and Leeds 4-1 with 32.5 percent.

Most of the time, Rodgers likes to keep the ball because he has good technical players like James Maddison. But with Vardy and Wilfred Ndidi having each managed an hour in the FA Cup in the middle of the week, the pieces of the puzzle are there for Rodgers if he wants his side to sit up and fight back.

Leicester could get back to all four of their defenses today, and I’m not sure there is a defense with better competition in the country.

Left back James Justin received the devastating news that he needs surgery for an anterior cruciate ligament injury. Now Premier League winner Christian Fuchs and emerging talent Luke Thomas will compete for his spot.

Central defenders Wesley Fofana and Caglar Soyuncu will play together one day, but the experienced Jonny Evans, 33, is proving to be the perfect partner for both for now.

Right-back Ricardo Pereira has shown how good he is in recent seasons, but Timothy Castagne, until his recent injury, had kept him out of the team.

With this defense and Ndidi providing protection up front, Leicester has a solid foundation. Ndidi can take care of Roberto Firmino today, with those tricky positions he takes, while Vardy can put Liverpool’s makeshift backline to the test.

That’s what the Leicester striker did at King Power Stadium during his 2015-16 title-winning season, remember, as our graphic below shows.

The threat of Vardy doing that to Liverpool remains very real. Klopp’s side is vulnerable right now. The center of his defense is the Achilles heel. They continue to hold a high line and Leicester’s pace in the middle will pose a great threat today.

Liverpool lost Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, but then compounded the problem by moving midfielders Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to defense, disrupting two sections of the team at the same time.

As good as Henderson and Fabinho are, they are making mistakes that specialist central defenders wouldn’t make. That has been a huge downfall for Liverpool, as evidenced by the 4-1 loss to Manchester City at Anfield last week.

For City’s opener, Raheem Sterling beat Trent Alexander-Arnold and Fabinho was too far from his right back, while Gomez would have known to be closer to provide protection.

Later, for City’s second goal, Phil Foden won his heads-up against Henderson to help Ilkay Gundogan, while Van Dijk hardly ever let his opponents dribble it.

Klopp has been sensational for Liverpool. There hasn’t been a coach who has captured the mood in Merseyside the way he has since Bill Shankly. Fans will love him forever for handing them a title after 30 long years.

I admire the way he protects his players. I had a manager at Arsene Wenger who never publicly criticized us. Even after losing to City, Klopp refused to blame Alisson.

Liverpool play with energy and excitement and feed on their fans. When the atmosphere at Anfield is at its peak, the players and the crowd are in complete harmony. Liverpool heavy metal football is not the same without that backing band.

Today Klopp faces another ambitious coach at Rodgers. He wasn’t the man to beat Liverpool the Premier League, but he could still win a trophy from Leicester this season.

The stakes are high in today’s game. The result could have a massive effect on where these teams finish this season.

Source: m.allfootballapp.com



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