Leicester v Swansea Preview: Team-work is the key

In the space of just over twenty-four hours last weekend, confidence momentarily faltered in the Leicester camp, at least among some fans anyway. A turbulent 2-2 draw against West Ham meant Tottenham Hotspur had the chance to reduce the gap to five points. They outclassed Stoke City in every sense on Monday evening to ensure that for a neutral, the excitement of a close title race between two underdogs lives on for at least another game and likely into May. This weekend, the Foxes play first once again in front of television cameras and welcome Swansea City to the King Power as we bid to reopen that gap again.

Expectations were still wildly different when we travelled to Wales at the start of December. Yes, we topped the Premier League then but many Foxes fans didn’t expect it to last, and the media certainly didn’t. Swansea were experiencing a sluggish first half of the season and we hit them hard. It was a bright, fast and attacking start that saw Riyad Mahrez net the first in just five minutes. Really, Leicester never looked back and it was a comfortable 3-0 victory to keep the run going.

So much of our season and success seems to tie in with the fact that we’ve rarely changed the winning team. Team selections have been consistent, not only helping Claudio Ranieri banish the Tinkerman nickname, but allowing the Foxes continuity and a team who know each other inside out. It’s no coincidence either; the side you see most weeks are our current best eleven combined. Behind them, there’s a team working incredibly hard in the background to keep them in the best possible condition and there’s a true family bond between the squad that’s evident both on and off the pitch. While media headlines have again and again focused on Jamie Vardy and/or Riyad Mahrez, we’re incredibly far from being a one man team. We wouldn’t be where we are now without such a strong team ethic. We now it just as much this weekend as ever before.

I thought we’d debunked the one/two man team myth several months ago now, when people finally began crediting a wider spectrum of players who’d previously gone under the radar, such as Danny Simpson and Marc Albrighton. However last weekend, the focus turned to how the Foxes would cope without top goalscorer, Vardy. ‘Could they’ was the question for some. It’s a loss and a particularly frustrating one given the form he’s just got back into and the nature in which his suspension occurred but it is what it is and I’m confident that we can score goals, and potentially win, without him too. We’ve been fortunate enough this season to have two players In Mahrez and Vardy whose combined efforts have resulted in 38 goals and 17 assists but we’ve had people chipping in from all areas of the pitch aside from our goalkeepers. We still managed to score in a recent five game drought for the England striker so there’s no reason to assume we can’t score on Sunday.

With Vardy having now accepted his FA charge of misconduct, we await to see if we’ll also be without him for another game or more. The reality is that of course we’d always prefer to have him playing. He’s dangerous even when he’s not been scoring and he manages to unsettle the opposition’s defence with a turn of his body or a loose ball that drifts into the ball. The striker offers something we don’t get from our other players, but like any player in this side, we can, and will cope without him. I’m confident that as Ranieri has in almost every game this season, his selection will be the best possible side with a desire to fight and to win.

N’Golo Kante has undoubtedly been our player of the season in many ways and I shared some nerves when we realised that we would face West Brom without him. In came Andy King who put in a brilliant performance and notched a goal. We missed what Kante can bring, naturally, but we coped. Whenever we have asked our substitutes or fringe players to step up to the plate, they have, for example when Leonardo Ulloa delivered what nobody else could to score the only goal against Norwich and seal three points, or when he kept his cool last weekend in one of the most intense games I’ve witnessed lately to score a last minute, equalising penalty.

Almost every Leicester fan has an opinion of what team we should play, and the formation, ahead of the game against Swansea. I’ve been thinking about it since Vardy was issued his red card and a one match suspension, at least, was confirmed. I don’t expect the personnel to change dramatically, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the formation did. Leonardo Ulloa is almost certain to start and 4-4-2 is not the ideal formation to play him in. It’s worked where he’s been a substitute but to begin the game like that would surprise me. The more likely options are a 4-3-1-1 or a 4-2-3-1. Depending on the freedom that Mahrez is granted, it could be a fluid combination of all three. Here’s a line-up I’d be interested to see:-

There are interchangeable players and options with this, depending on your loyalties. Shinji Okazaki could occupy the role behind Ulloa, with Mahrez taking Gray’s spot. Our wingers are all pretty interchangeable in terms of which wing they play on, but I have been hoping to see Albrighton on the right for a sustained amount of time, which will only happen if Mahrez plays higher up the pitch. Choosing between Gray and Schlupp if the Algerian does sit higher up will divide Foxes fans. Schlupp is proven and can slot into any role up front too but has been most effective under Ranieri as a substitution to test tired legs. We’ve not yet seen Gray start a Premier League game but has looked so exciting and promising in the short spells we’ve seen him play that I don’t worry about him being fazed by the occasion. Along with Albrighton, he’d be happy to deliver balls into the box that Ulloa should be able to capitalise on.

Regardless of position, what we also need to see, perhaps the most, is the Riyad Mahrez that bagged a hat-trick the last time the two sides met, a performance from the winger like the one at the Etihad. He’s shown glimpses of the player we’ve been privileged to watch this season against Sunderland and more of it against West Ham but neither were him at his 100% best.

The frustration the players felt from the West Ham game was written on their faces as they walked back to the dressing room. Had you not seen the game and only the players at the end in the tunnel, you’d think they’d lost. Sunday is chance for them to answer back. It feels like it’s going to swing one way or the other, we’ll either come out all guns blazing and with intent to win, or it could derail us. With everything we’ve seen of this Leicester team this season, the second feels unlikely. Previous disappointments, see Arsenal at home, Liverpool away and the Emirates Valentine’s heartbreak, where after each game we’ve gone on to win the following game and go on a winning run again. With just four games left, we could certainly do with more of the same, despite last weekend not being a defeat.

I hate to put so much pressure on a game, but a win feels like a must. If for nothing else, to maintain our five point gap, even if we can’t open it to eight, and keep things in our own hands. Tottenham show no signs of slowing down and it’s difficult not to want to see them continuing to play such stunning football either. Were they not snapping at our heels and my team not in the title race, I would be cheering them on without hesitation but I have to hope that as well as the Foxes picking up a couple more wins, that Spurs could also drop a point or three somewhere too.

This penultimate home game has the mark of being one of the most important this season. I fully expect the pre-match noise to be even louder than last Sunday and a fans, last weekend, and the fallout after, will likely unite supporters further. Last week needs to be just that, a thing that has happened. What this weekend presents is a chance for us to answer with the way we play and a positive, supportive atmosphere. With how much this game could mean, it has all the makings of being a game to remember.