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Leicester City preseason depth chart breakdown

‘‘Twas depth that killed the Foxes

Manchester City v Leicester City - The FA Community Shield Photo by Michael Regan - The FA/The FA via Getty Images

And just like that, the 2021/22 Premier League season is upon us!

For Leicester City is kicks off this Saturday against Wolves.

Last season a lack of depth pulled us back from the brink of a Champions league place, so we’re taking a look at how the Foxes stack up throughout the squad.

For much of last year we saw Brendan Rodgers move to a back 3 system, but he reverted back to a 4 for the Community Shield, so we’ll go through how the squad shapes up for both.


4-2-3-1/4-1-4-1

4-2-3-1, 4-1-4-1, 4-3-3, 4-5-1, it’s all the same formation. Feel free to @ me

There’s an obvious issue here at CB, playing with just the 2 can help that while we wait for some injuries to heal.

Injuries are also a problem at RB, but you can’t argue with the depth there long term.

The midfield pairing is incredible as we know, and with the addition of Soumaré they may even have found a way to get them occasional rest.

The biggest problem of this shape is going to be on the wings.

On the left, Harvey Barnes is a scintillating talent, and this position is the best way to bring that out, but who’s his back up? Certainly there’s no one who can do similar things.

On the right is the ever dependable Albrighton, but is he forward thinking enough? We know it’s not the best position for Perez and, as above, Ricardo can’t be spared yet.

Anyone got a problem with those strikers? No?

3-4-1-2

Those backup CBs...

Woof. How do we feel about a Castagne, Amartey, JJ back line?

Investment is badly needed at CB. Honestly to play 3, depth was already a problem before Fofana went down. We really don’t want Wilf shunted out of position again.

As above, the midfield is the strength of the team. In this shape, the depth is also the best we have, with options aplenty at all 4 spots.

We also have some options up front now, which should be a huge relief to Jamie Vardy, especially as he reaches his annual Christmas lull.

The main issue I have here is our game changing number 7 - is he a striker in this? Does he play behind the front 2?

Barnes’ absence was the catalyst for this formation, so it will be interesting to see how often it’s used now he’s back.

Overall, I am very happy. Injuries are of course a huge problem right now, but top to bottom it feels like the best 25 man squad I’ve seen at the club.

I’d love to hear how the rest of you think we shape up going into the season.

With no first XI investment, is the starting quality strong enough? And what about the depth? 3 quality bench signings have arrived but it feels like half the positions are in trouble still.