What we learned from Wolves vs Leicester City

Leicester City returned from their winter break in fairly lacklustre fashion, just about holding on to a drab 0-0 draw with Wolves. Here are some things we can take from the performance.

1. Vardy party hiatus continues

The former England striker’s landmark 200th appearance will probably not go down as one his favourites. He was consistently isolated and struggled to involve himself in the game at all.

We all know Vardy doesn’t need many touches to get his goals, but anyone would struggle to get back into goalscoring form with just 19 touches in 90 minutes.

The blame should probably be spread fairly evenly through the team. The midfield failed to create chances for anyone and rarely seemed to be looking Vardy’s way, but he wasn’t getting himself into dangerous positions either.

In fact, he looked swamped by Wolves’ back three for most of the game. The same thing happened in our first meeting, when he had even less touches. There’s clearly a tactical issue there that leaves Vardy with too much to do, and perhaps it’s time to try something different against back threes.

2. A defensive improvement

The Foxes’ one-time league leading defence hasn’t been at their best lately, but they looked strong again on Friday. Jonny Evans and Çağlar Söyüncü both put in good performances to secure our first clean sheet in the league since New Years’ Day.

In the second half, we played well but then went down to 10 men. For us to keep a clean sheet and get through it in the end, it was pleasing - Brendan Rodgers was happy with the defensive effort

As much as we struggled to create chances of our own, the draw always looked fairly comfortable. Even down to 10 men, we never really looked like conceding from open play.

Set pieces were a slightly different matter. The Foxes got a little lucky to be let off by VAR (although the decision was correct) and could have conceded at least a couple more had Jimenez been sharper.

Still, they definitely settled down as the game went on, and looked pretty solid by the end. Combined with the Chelsea game there’s a definite set piece concern, but we’re also seeing a defence that can shut teams down from open play again.

3. Choudhury’s poor decisions

Hamza was unlucky to be sent off on Friday. His first yellow card, for his first foul, was given after a perfectly good challenge. It felt like a response to his unearned reputation rather than the tackle.

But that doesn’t mean he bears no blame for the second card. Whether he felt it was justified or not, the academy graduate did know that he was already booked, but still opted for an unnecessary trip on the halfway line. He had to know a red was coming.

With Wilfred Ndidi still struggling post surgery and Papy Mendy missing for a few more weeks, Choudhury’s absence could leave the squad without an established defensive midfielder against Manchester City.

It was a particularly disappointing foul because he really did seem to have his reckless streak reined in since his absence for unspecified off field issues. If he can limit the mistakes, he has all the tools to be a greta midfielder.