This must be concerning to a Leicester fan as it shows that they created very little for nearly the last hour of the game against a team tipped to be relegated. If they were trying to see the game out then it worked for the first 60 minutes as AFCB’s chances were restricted, but the pressure told in the closing stages. Leicester went ahead with their first real chance. Daka reacting quickly to Senesi’s clearance that hit Lerma and, on the turn, neatly found the corner with Neto having no chance. This was rated 1 in 5. Daka then had the biggest chance of the game, rated 55%, although I’m not sure he touched the cross that Neto kicked away. A good connection and it looked like it would be 2-0. This was in the 26th minute and six minutes later it was another dangerous moment, Faes winning a header in the box and Evans playing the ball back into Neto’s arms (both rated 1 in 6). That was it for Leicester’s key chances. Bournemouth had a few moderate chances (rated between 1 in 8 and 1 in 16) with the majority falling to Christie. A break in the opening minutes saw Christie tackled before he got a shot away so it doesn’t appear here. At half-time Leicester had been the better team and the xG was showing that 1-0 to the visitors was a fair reflection of the chances. The second half belonged largely to AFCB, although there weren’t a large number of chances. Mepham volleyed over in the box following a corner (1 in 8) then Solanke had a shot (1 in 8) that spun up for Billing to finish emphatically (1 in 5). Four minutes later it was 2-1, Christie making a well-timed run from the midfield to meet Solanke’s nod down unmarked and he steered it past Ward (1 in 2). Given Leicester’s plight the final 20 or so minutes after the goal was very tame, with only one chance, which was rated 1 in 25.
The team was more advanced than in recent games. Six of the starting eleven were on average in the Leicester’s half, previous to this game the highest number was four in the opposition’s half. Smith on his less usual flank held back, potentially to try and stop the threat of Maddison, whilst Fredericks (and then Stacey) were close to Christie. Lerma played deeper than Cook. Anthony came on when we were 2-1 up, but it didn’t appear to be a defensive role as he was our furthest player forward. Moore wasn’t on long enough to include in the graphic
The game against Leicester set the record this season for total number of touches, touches in the opposition half and in the final third. Mepham had the most touches overall, followed by Tavernier, Senesi and Lerma, three of which were in our four deepest-lying players. Tavernier had most touched in the final third, although Fredericks, who was nominally a right back was joint third with 23.
Mepham, followed by Lerma and Senesi made the most passes, indicating there was some play between the centre-backs and the deeper-lying midfielder. In the opposition half, five players made 20 or more passes. (Lerma, Tavernier, Billing, Cook and Christie). The average completion rate (85%) was the highest this season, surpassing the 81% at Forest, and was equally split by position on pitch (86% in Leicester’s half, and 84% in the final third). Billing 94%, Senesi 92% and Mepham 90% were the best players on this metric, although mention must go to Tavernier (89%) who made 100 of his 13 passes in the final third.
Solanke, Billing and Tavernier (three of our most positionally advanced players) had the most aerial duels although none won more than 50%.
AFCB won most of their tackles with all but Christie and Cook winning 100% of the tackles made. Christie and Senesi made the most tackles.
Despite being on his least preferred side, Smith made the most interceptions. Recoveries were spread throughout the team with Christie and Lerma having most of the outfield players. Mepham and Senesi made the most clearances. Only Senesi made any blocks. Before doing these stats I suspect I over-estimated the number of blocks in a game with AFCB never having made more than 5 in the Premier League this season.
