Player Ratings: West Brom vs Leicester City

Match Ratings

Leicester City’s opening day 3-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion got off to a slow start, but a fine attacking second half really made us all feel much better going into this season. Let’s start from the back and rate our way up the formation!

Goalkeeper

Kasper Schmeichel 8/10

He didn’t have a whole lot to do, but he made a beauty of a kick save from the 1 shot they managed on target from 7. Kasper also had 79.2% pass accuracy and made a total of 28 touches.

Timothy Castagne 10/10

All aboard the Castagne train! I’ll forgive his awkwardness at times in the first half as, you know, it was his first match with a team he just joined, but he did connect with the other Belgians very well down the right flank. It was Red Devil delight as Dennis Praet drove down the left and whipped a cross from the byline and practically out of nowhere, Tim rose above the rest to head it in. Defensively his work was excellent with 3 tackles, 2 clearances, and 2 interceptions.

Çağlar Söyüncü 7/10

The best chin in football had another excellent day for the Foxes. Managing to work with a new CB partner in Wilfred Ndidi was trying at times, but he played very considering two of his 3 defensive partners were practically new to him.

Wilfred Ndidi 6/10

Although Wilf did more defensive work than Cags, he definitely struggled at his new position at times and it perhaps we were blessed we weren’t playing a stronger side that could’ve done more damage to our new defense. Wilf finished the day with 2 tackles, 3 interceptions, 3 clearances, and 1 blocked shot.

James Justin 7/10

JJ really turned it up in the second half after a weak first half in his new position. I was impressed to see him using his left foot in the second half, and he may be more comfortable there as the season progresses. He won the second penalty for Vardy, but also got his first yellow card of the campaign.

Ayoze Pérez 6/10

The biggest miss was when he struggled to collect a pass from Harvey Barnes that would have put him in one on one with the goalkeeper. His position on the pitch really confused me as he seemed to be more center when we needed him wide and vice versa. Perhaps that had to do with a new partner on the right, but maybe something to watch as the season goes on.

Nampalys Mendy 7/10

Mendy did what he does best, keeps the ball moving and tackling when he needed to. He had 92.9% pass completion with 2 tackles, 1 interception, and 1 clearance.

Youri Tielemans 8/10

I thought WBA did a good job forcing Youri deep in the first half, but like the rest of the team, really showed his class in the second half. He managed a shot on target and complete three successful dribbles. He really makes the team tick when Maddison is out, and made a total of 79 passes throughout the match.

Dennis Praet 9/10

He was practically non-existent in the first half, down to again a solid formation from WBA and great hustle on their part. He really started to work in the second and was constantly making runs in behind the defense on both the right and left flanks. It was down the left he received a ball from Harvey Barnes and dinked a cross to the back post which found his compatriot Castagne to give us the 1-0 lead. He was eventually subbed off for James Maddison, but had another excellent match for the Foxes.

Harvey Barnes 9/10

I really liked Harvey’s work today and he had 5 shots with 2 on target and 1 key pass. It was another game where we thought he was going to breakthrough and score 40 goals this season, but maybe we’ll have to wait to the next game against Burnley.

Jamie Vardy 10/10

The Albion rustler was back at it again. Although his contributions came from the penalty spot, he did not miss his two penalties, and now sits one behind Mohammed Salah in his golden boot defense campaign.