Premier League Player Ratings: Leicester City 0-1 Bournemouth

Some credit where it’s due first, Bournemouth defended very well. While it was a frustrating game for Leicester City fans that never looked like producing a goal, that’s not always down to bad play on our side. It was just a difficult performance to score against.

That said, the Foxes could have shown a lot more intent. Maybe we wouldn’t need to be bringing off defenders to throw the kitchen sink forward in injury time if we showed a little ambition earlier in the game, instead of sitting back and hoping we could keep them out (which we haven't managed against any opposition for a long time now).

Slight side note, on December 14th 2008, Bournemouth were 91st (of 92) in the English Football League system, and about a month away from hiring a 31 year old Eddie Howe. For me, their story is probably bigger and better even than Leicester’s. It’s just taken a little longer and it hasn’t finished yet.

Ron-Robert Zieler - 5

Yes, he did well to save the first effort from Afobe, but Pugh’s follow up was aa lot easier and, having got a hand to it, he should have stopped it.

Luis Hernandez - 4

Hard to watch at times. Seemed like there was nothing he could do to stop his man except to fairly frequently foul him.

Wes Morgan - 6

A solid if unspectacular defensive display. Handled his man well enough throughout and never looked under too much pressure, despite his side’s complete lack of interest in holding onto the ball.

Robert Huth - 5

Bournemouth were allowed to cross as often as they liked and Huth was usually there to deal with it. A point deducted though because he did lose track of Afobe and left him wide open for the Cherries’ goal.

Christian Fuchs - 5

So many crosses came in from the Bournemouth right. That’s not all on Fuchs, it seemed more like an intentional plan from the opposition, but he didn't stop it. Was it me or did the whole back line struggle with clearing the ball?

Riyad Mahrez - 7

It wasn’t the smoke and mirrors Mahrez we loved so much last year, but it was a good performance. He put the ball into dangerous areas much more often than anyone else.

Andy King - 5

Sometimes it’d hard to pinpoint what exactly is so vital in what Danny Drinkwater brings, but every game without him I end up picking out at least one midfielder and asking where were they all game and why was it nowhere near the ball?

Daniel Amartey - 4

Better defensively, but I definitely preferred it when he was the one nowhere near the ball. Time for a change.

Drinkwater received a kick on his knee in Porto and I hope he is ready for Saturday - me too, Claudio, me too.

Marc Albrighton - 6

Defensively, you know what you’re getting from him; he works hard and he makes it look more like a 3 than a 2 in the middle. His attacking output varies wildly game to game though. Sometimes he looks unstoppable, but sometimes, like one, he just couldn't produce anything.

Islam Slimani - 4

Too many attacks were just Vardy and Slimani by themselves. He’s a good player, but if you don't get someone up close to him, he’s going to lose the ball fairly frequently.

Jamie Vardy - 5

I thought Bournemouth defended him well for the most part and took him out of the second half. In the first half, he got himself into some chances, but he couldn’t make anything out of it.

Shinji Okazaki - 5

A striker coming on at 0-1 needs to make more impact than working hard defensively and playing 11 short passes. He’s a vital cog when this team is playing well. When they’re just lumping it upfield, we might well have brought Ulloa on.

Ahmed Musa - 5

Remember that preseason goal against Barcelona? He did skip past a defender a couple of times, and he’s still very fast, but he’s not making much happen.

Leo Ulloa - 7

The only substitute that I thought positively impacted the game. Nothing but long, high balls forward wasn't a very good plan, but at least he suited it. Nearly had the equaliser but for a good save.

This wasn’t so much a bad performance as it was a very nothing performance. Happy to sit back and give up 80% of possession for as long as Bournemouth needed to score, and then impotent in trying to get one back. My Man of the Match is Riyad Mahrez, the only player who looked interested in passing it along the ground. Let more know if you disagree.