Leicester vs Swansea, a game of missed chances for the hosts

Leicester met Swansea at the King Power Stadium on Saturday and although it was a game which was dominated by the Foxes, Carlos Carvalhal once again pulled of a spectacular result and now finds his Swans on 24 points and only three points behind a Watford side situated in 11^th in a compact bottom half.

The Welsh side are unbeaten in 7 games in all competitions and there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic in Wales. Carvalhal, who was appointed after the destitute form of ex-manager, Paul Clement, has reassured the fans and the team that they are valuable of their Premier League status and he will do everything in his power to keep the side in England’s top flight. After wins against two of the current top 6, Swansea strengthened on deadline day as they captured the A team in Andre Ayew, who was bought for a club record fee of £18m, and Andy King, who went on loan from Saturdays opposition.

As for their counterparts, who were coming off a disappointing mid-week performance against Everton, this was a game where Puel and his side would have been looking for three points to continue their monumental 2018 form. This was not the case though as the foxes had to settle for a point and stay in 8^th position, 1 point behind Burnley. They came unstuck against a fearless and robust Swansea defence which has stopped Liverpool and Arsenal in their quest for a top 4 finish in their last two Premier League games.

The game was really a case of Leicester struggling to put the game to bed which could be due to the absence of Algerian, Riyad Mahrez. After his deadline day saga, Leicester’s number 26 has not turned up to training and was not in the match day squads to face Everton or Swansea. A first half which seen Leicester firmly in control proved costly as Vardy’s first half goal was cancelled out by Federico Fernandez who headed home from a Ki Sung-yueng corner.

Kelechi Iheanacho started the game alongside Vardy and it only took 17 minutes for the two to link up as Kelechi slotted Leicester’s number 9 through on goal and he duly slotted the ball past Fabianski. Iheanacho would have had a goal for himself too if it wasn’t for Alfie Mawsons goal-saving block just before 30 minutes. A number of Leicester chances followed as Albrighton and Diabate impressed, yet Leicester could only see one past Fabianksi at the whistle.

A much improved second half display from Swansea resulted in them finding Leicester’s achilles-heel, a corner which was once again not defended by Leicester, which allowed Fernandez to creep free and power his header by Schmeichel. A double substitution on 68 minutes, which seen Gray and James bought onto the field of play as well as Okazaki replacing Simpson on 80 minutes was not enough for Leicester who had to settle for the point, with Swansea’s one shot on target being enough for them to bring a point back to Wales.

Claude Puel stated that the result ‘was not a fair result’ and will be looking to hand Manchester City their second loss of the season as they visit the Etihad next Saturday evening. As for the Swans, they are back at the Liberty for a tough game against Burnley.

Written by Eamon Kitching.