Player Ratings: Leicester City 1 - 3 Nottingham Forest

Leicester City played a decent half of football against Nottingham Forest on Friday. Unfortunately, matches almost invariably have two halves and the second one was dire. Three errors in our own penalty box led to three goals for the visitors and that’s too big a hill to climb even when the attack shows some promise. Did anyone stand out? Let’s take a look!

Mads Hermansen - 7

Made an incredible save, something that would normally get him an 8, but his indecision played a role in the third Forest goal. Sure, he shouldn’t have had anything to decide, but he also shouldn’t get lobbed by a header from that range.

Ricardo - 6

There was some rust as the Portuguese right-back/midfielder was playing his first Premier League minutes of the season. Struggled with Callum Hudson-Odoi’s pace but was neat and calm in possession, giving the midfield a more composed look. Substituted on 68’.

Wout Faes - 5

He gets the majority of the blame for the final goal, heading the ball tamely to Chris Wood and leaving his keeper stranded. He’s a high-risk/high-reward defender and we saw the former without the latter on Friday.

Photo by Andrew Kearns - CameraSport via Getty Images

Caleb Okoli - 5

Couldn’t prevent Wood from pivoting to score the decisive second goal, and then allowed a long ball to bounce which put Faes and Hermansen in a world of trouble. He’ll have better outings.

James Justin - 6

Filled space and avoided problems at both ends of the pitch: He didn’t allow too much down the left side, but he didn’t contribute to the attack either. It was the sort of performance that leaves you wondering what he did all afternoon which isn’t the worst thing for a defender.

Harry Winks - 7

This was my toughest rating and I came down on the generous side. With Ricardo in the side, Winks had considerably more freedom to create and had his best hour of the season. He set up Vardy’s strike and kept the ball moving. Like everyone else, he fell to pieces in the last 25 minutes, giving the ball away far too cheaply.

Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images

Wilfred Ndidi - 6

Not the most impactful performance he’s had, Wilf struggled to move the ball with purpose. He did an admirable job screening the back line, winning 7 headers. Against Chris Wood, that’s impressive. Substituted on 74’.

Abdul Fatawu - 5

After last week’s cameo, there was no way Steve Cooper couldn’t have started Fatawu. Unfortunately, the Ghanaian was far from at his best. He seldom beat his man one-on-one and seemed loathe to come inside to shoot. Drifted out of the match after the hour mark.

Facundo Buonanotte - 6

Most of the energy and purpose on display in a blue shirt came from the Brighton loanee. His ability to carry the ball in traffic and to press makes him arguably our top player so far this year. But, he can be a little too sure of his ability and his failed attempt to dribble out of his own area led to the first Forest goal.

Stephy Mavididi - 5

Take what I said about Fatawu and apply it here. He wasn’t able to get behind his man and his passing wasn’t up to his usual standards. Largely invisible for too much of the match.

Photo by Andrew Kearns - CameraSport via Getty Images

Jamie Vardy - 7

Didn’t see much of the ball, but made it count when he did. Took his goal beautifully and did the dirty work you expect of him. You get the sense that, had the team found a way to get him on the ball more often, things might have gone differently.

Substitutes

Jordan Ayew - 5

Held the ball well and drew some fouls, but didn’t contribute to the attack in a meaningful way.

Bilal El Khannouss - 5

It’s still not quite happening for the Moroccan, but there were glimmers of hope today as he seemed to be a little more up to the pace of the match than in the past. It was an incremental improvement, but an improvement nonetheless.

Boubakary Soumare - 5

Only on the pitch for a quarter-hour and didn’t seem suited to chasing the match. Didn’t do anything wrong. He’s still very difficult to separate from the ball.

Manager - 6

I didn’t see anything especially wrong with anything Cooper did this afternoon. When you’re let down by individual errors, it’s hard to blame the manager (at least, until those errors start repeating). The team selection looked golden when the Foxes tore apart the Forest defence with a brilliant team move. It may have been the first time this season I’ve felt like “Ah, now this could work.”

I wish you could see the whole build-up here; it really was a nice team goal.

The substitutions failed to change the match, but down by two goals, that’s usually going to be the way of it. Or, at least, unless you’re playing against Southampton. My biggest concern is that he’ll look at the result and think “Well, can’t start Fatawu and Ricardo.” But, that’s a question for another day. For this week’s match, I don’t see how you can say the manager was the problem.

Man of the Match: Jamie Vardy

Vardy’s now scored in back-to-back matches and he didn’t put a foot wrong out there. It’s just that the ball was so seldom at his feet. He did the most with the least, which isn’t a new thing for the Foxes’ talisman. Is it time to start talking about a contract extension (he says, only half-joking).