Having four strikers for one role has been a blessing for Leicester City this season. The impact of injuries and international call-ups has been minimal because there’s always been at least one forward ready to lead the line for Enzo Maresca’s side. City have played 37 games in all competitions, and their strikers have scored a handy 27 goals.
All four are now available and fit for the first time since August. After the Africa Cup of Nations, Kelechi Iheanacho will face off against Jamie Vardy, Patson Daka, and Tom Cannon for the lone starting spot at the top of the pitch.
Even though Maresca has benefited thus far, he must now make a difficult choice. Even with three strikers, it’s a challenging task. Four happy people is nearly impossible to maintain. The manager has acknowledged that one player will be left out of the starting lineup for every game. Maresca has a difficult decision to make because all four of the candidates have been given opportunities this season and have accepted them.
The returning Iheanacho seems the least likely to be left off the team, even though he isn’t exactly the frontrunner to start. He is the odd man out among the four, and Maresca is aware of it.
Maresca declared last week that “he’s the best striker we have in terms of linking.” “He is of good quality. He does a fantastic job of relating to his teammates.
Additionally, Kele may have already played for Man City and spent a season with Pep Guardiola, so he is already familiar with the concept. He is, technically, our finest striker in terms of coordinating with his teammates.
As a striker for a Maresca club, you have to be able to receive the ball with your back to the goal and drop deep to create space behind the defence for advancing midfielders. That’s something Iheanacho does far more often than the others.
According to the statistics, Iheanacho outplays the other three players in terms of touches per game, completes twice as many passes, brings the ball into the final third of the pitch more frequently, and creates more scoring opportunities. Out of the four, he is the only one who can be considered a creator.
However, it seems like he has underperformed this season. He makes more errors too, maybe as a result of getting on the ball more frequently. He mishandles the ball and loses possession of it more frequently than any other player on the team, which is not surprising.
He seems to be less of a threat to the opposition, but maybe that’s just because he goes so deep. It’s harder to expect him to remain on the final line of defence when City attacks if he’s descending to connect plays.
Although Iheanacho seems to be the ideal choice when City needs an additional man to help them convert midfield possession into an attack during their build-up phase, they haven’t needed a striker as much as they would have liked in recent years. It has been more crucial for their striker to establish himself as a goal threat due to their possession of the ball and effectiveness in moving it forward.
And Daka is the greatest at it. His minutes played in the Championship thus far indicate that he has a lot more opportunities than the other three. With Iheanacho (0.43), Vardy (0.41), and Cannon (0.37) closely grouped further back, his non-penalty predicted goals stand at 0.67 per 90 minutes.
Daka has demonstrated that he is capable of making runs and positioning himself to benefit from this team. His goal every 99 minutes record indicates that he is a capable finisher.
Furthermore, Daka believes he offers a counterbalance to Vardy and Cannon. Though he is more seasoned, he presses with the same zeal and quickness as Cannon. While he might not possess Vardy’s acumen,
But Vardy’s track record of winning divisions and overcoming adversity may make him the best choice as City head into the final few months of the season, when promotion is at stake. Maresca has a really tough decision to make.
It will only become more difficult. There will be more important decisions to make come summertime. First things first: will the team be promoted? Will their current set of forwards be good enough for the Premier League? Will they need to bring in new players? They need to consider whether they can fit all four of their strikers at this time.
Both Vardy and Iheanacho have summer contract expirations. Are they presented with new offers? Vardy is the team’s top scorer and is still full of enthusiasm, so it would be premature to let him leave following promotion. Furthermore, Iheanacho continues to provide something unique.
Daka might then be put up for sale as a valued asset that has generated interest in the past. However, he has played the most minutes this season, so if the team wants to assist Maresca in assembling the greatest team possible, then that decision does not seem wise. Cannon appears to be a serious prospect as well, given his explosive rushes off the final man and his venomous shot. He’s not leaving anytime soon.
Maresca has difficult decisions to make over who starts at the front of the line against Middlesbrough and who is left off the roster. Furthermore, it won’t become much simpler in the near future.
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