Leicester City Fan View: The Foxes don't do things easily

Leicester City’s Premier League campaign resumes against Chelsea this weekend. Our opponents have added one of our key midfielders, among others, to their squad. Us? Seemingly without a replacement for that player until January and loaning out another option.

As news broke of Adrien Silva’s registration being rejected, there were collective groans. Our choice of central players is reduced to just three fully fit players: Matty James, Wilfred Ndidi and the ever present Andy King.

Foxes leave midfield a little exposed

It’s not ideal, but it does feel quintessentially Leicester. It would be boring if everything always went to plan, right? Fourteen seconds are what stops Foxes fans getting a first glance at Adrien Silva. Whoever is at fault; Sporting Lisbon, or us, it’s all a bit embarrassing. Perhaps if we hadn’t been chasing the midfielder for over twelve months it would seem more forgivable.

READ MORE: Drinkwater departure a blow to Leicester City

What next for Silva? The Foxes, plus FA backing, will appeal the decision as much as possible. Essentially, as things stand, we’re left with a very talented player who’ll be waiting in the wings until January. We rode our luck last summer with Islam Slimani too, this latest move bringing further scrutiny upon the often criticised Jon Rudkin. Doing things the hard way though does rather come naturally to Leicester. We’ve been fortunate that over the past two years we’ve had a lot to celebrate and less to be concerned about.

We enter a risky duration of time. Iborra will hopefully return soon, we’ve still not been able to see what he can offer on a competitive basis. But for now, an injury to a midfielder would be catastrophic. With a cup game on the horizon, it limits rotation too. The often injured Nampalys Mendy returned to France on loan and we’re not blessed with many up and coming young midfielders either. Harvey Barnes, one of the few, is out on a season long loan elsewhere.

Home form is crucial for Leicester

Shakespeare’s men are clear underdogs for Chelsea’s visit. I understand that but home advantage remains and we’ve certainly looked more convincing at the King Power over the last year. Much of it will likely come down to the performance of our midfield. They’ll not only need to hold off a prominent Chelsea attacking force, coupled with a fullback, Marcos Alonso, in fine form. We’ll rely on them to help provide adequate service to Jamie Vardy and his partner.

Who exactly will partner Vardy is less clear. Given the fact we probably don’t expect to dominate possession, Shinji Okazaki could prove invaluable. His link up play might be easy to ignore, but it’s crucial. Sadly often all that gets pointed out for him is the amount of time he’s on the floor. If anything that’s just reflective of the effort he’s putting in.

Kelechi Iheanacho, who’s had a disrupted start to his Leicester career is fit and scored for Nigeria during the international break. Having only had a brief glimpse of the kind of partnership he can form with Vardy, I’m excited to see more. It feels like we will, but only from the bench with around thirty minutes on the clock.

Gray’s successful international campaign

There’s another player who will hope to have caught Shakespeare’s eye. Demarai Gray featured and scored for the England Under 21s. As with all of his goals, it was an impressive effort and the young Lions certainly saw his best side. While Leicester celebrated keeping Riyad Mahrez, we don’t know what mental state he returns in. Having had his hopes of a big move resparked, he was absent from Algeria’s first key World Cup qualifier. He played the second but saw a penalty kick saved by the goalkeeper. Algeria lost both matches. Prior to the window closing, he’d been the total professional. That should remain, but is a small concern. Gray may hope this doubt allows him an opportunity. It’s not likely though, Mahrez has previous in popping up with some magic against Chelsea.

There’s an extra level of interest in this fixture. After just days of leaving, Danny Drinkwater returns. Given what he’s achieved with us the reception is likely to be mostly positive, much of the frustration simmered down by his comments. It’s not expected that he’ll play against us, but he will certainly have been able to give Antonio Conte some insider information. We just have to hope it doesn’t undo our game plan from minute one. If we want to beat Chelsea, we absolutely have to be on top form.