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Premier League Player Ratings: Leicester City 0-2 Manchester United

A valiant defensive effort falls short

Manchester United v Leicester City - Premier League Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

Manchester United are on fantastic form to start this season, and Leicester City were always going to be up against it just trying to hold them off, especially away from home.

Ultimately, the Foxes defensive plan, to defend the box and force United out wide or to shoot from range, paid off. In the end though, it was that weakness at defending set pieces that brought Leicester down. We conceded from open play later, but the game had changed by then (and it was a little bit offside).

Kasper Schmeichel - 9

The plan to give them plenty of low percentage shots is a dangerous one with some like Pogba on the field, but Kasper was up to the task, saving well several times. Penalties don’t worry me much, these days.

Danny Simpson - 7

Same as it ever was.

Wes Morgan - 7

Look much more like the captain we remember, throwing himself in front of four shots. This game plan suits him best, but he was still caught out of position for the second goal, which killed off the game.

Harry Maguire - 8

There’s a long way to go in that five year deal, but he looks like a steal right now. Consistently at the heart of the defensive effort, keeping Lukaku as quiet as you can ever really expect.

I thought he was outstanding today. Without a doubt, he's a player who can come straight into my team - Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand

Christian Fuchs - 7

Contributed fairly quietly to the 70 minutes of resistance, but was pinned back and not able to contribute with the ball as he’d like to. I don't think you can blame him for playing Fellaini onside, because he probably wasn't.

Riyad Mahrez - 8

Not back to his best, but every game I see from him makes Coutinho’s holdout look more and more childish. Mahrez worked hard and was comfortably our most dangerous (and possibly only) attacking outlet.

Wilfred Ndidi - 7

Put in an excellent defensive shift again. Kept a pretty close eye on some dangerous midfielders and won five tackles. He even got his passing accuracy back up to an acceptable standard, despite playing with less space.

Matty James - 6

Finally a central midfielder got more touches and played more passes than Harry Maguire. He washy ever able to do much with it though, despite how high up the field United were. He’s excellent as a quiet, hard working support man, but the team lacks that presence of a midfielder who can really run the game.

Marc Albrighton - 6

Barely saw the ball in his hour on the pitch. Not for a lack of trying, and his defensive effort were helpful, but never got the ball to do anything with.

Shinji Okazaki - 6

Again, he worked hard defensively, all along the halfway line, but barely got beyond it with the ball.

Jamie Vardy - 6

United did a very good job of completely cutting off his supply. He worked hard and tried to find those openings as ever, but they just weren't there.

I would say he’s one of the most dangerous players in the Premier League. Was he dangerous today? No. Why? Because we played well to control that - Mourinho, brash as ever, explains why Vardy wasn't at his best

Demarai Gray - 6

This 6 is really a 4 and 8 simultaneously. He’s so talented and creates some great chances, but his vision is still lacking pretty considerably, and most of those chances go by as he fails to see make the key pass.

Andy King - 5

He was on the field for half an hour. That’s about all I’ve got on him.

Islam Slimani - 7

His style was better suited to the situation than Vardy and I thought he was pretty impressive. When the ball was played up to him, it stuck. He was strong enough to hold off defenders and get others involved in play.

It was a frustrating day for Leicester fans, but if we’re honest, we never really looked like getting anything from the game. As I’ve said, the game plan actually worked, and we could have held them off for 20 minutes more, but we never really looked like scoring at the other end. Man of the match is Kasper Schmeichel, which usually is usually enough to tell the story by itself.