25/04 - 20:00
After losing Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante following their astonishing title win in 2016, Leicester just about held on to Jamie Vardy despite interest from Arsenal, and duly proved of the three the Englishman was the jewel in the crown.
Vardy has been Leicester’s top scorer in every season since 2015/16, winning his first Premier League golden boot last season in a 23 goal campaign. Leicester had started to become a little too over-reliant on his goals though, until now.
Outside of Manchester City who are relying almost exclusively on goals from wide forwards and attacking midfielders, Leicester’s midfield production is virtually unparalleled in Europe, with James Maddison and Harvey Barnes approaching double figures, and Youri Tielemans not far behind.
The burden on Vardy has been eased massively, and it’s backed up by the numbers, with Vardy supplying 27% of Leicester’s league goals this season, his lowest total since the horrendous 2016/17 season.
Vardy’s impact isn’t dwindling by any means, it’s just being backed up by his teammates, and that’s reflected in the table, with Leicester sitting third and looking far more likely to maintain that position than any of the sides below them claiming it.
Since James Maddison’s 2017/18 season with Norwich in the Championship, he’s outscored every midfielder in the top two tiers of English football with 34 goals, which is somewhat of a rarity these days following the years of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard’s midfield dominance.
Now joined by Barnes who is England’s top-scoring midfielder in all competitions this season with 12 goals, the Foxes have a new star trio that can lead the side for the first time since their title win, securing a long-anticipated return to the Champions League.
