Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Leicester go into their final Champions League group game with top spot already secured and will look for a welcome distraction from their below par league form. Tonight they travel to Portugal to face FC Porto who still need a result to secure their place in the Round of 16.
Claudio Ranieri’s men have excelled in Europe but have been poor on the home front in their defence of the Premier League title. As it stands they are holding the record for the worst defence of a Premier League title since the competition started in the 1992-93 season.
It’s fully apparent that they miss N’Golo Kante since his departure to Chelsea. The French international was at the fulcrum of absolutely everything that Leicester did last season at times he almost doing the work of two players during a game
But his presence and his workrate are now sorely missed. Danny Drinkwater looks constantly over-run in midfield while they’ve lost the defensive screen which allowed Riyad Mahrez to surge forward with reckless abandon and that in turn has seen Jamie Vardy’s goals dry up.
Vardy hasn’t scored in 15 games across all competitions and the longer that goal drought continues the more it will play on the England internationals mind. The shackles are somewhat off in Europe what with the group already won so Tonight could be the perfect night in which to bag that all important goal.
For hosts Porto they need to make sure they match the result of FC Copenhagen in the other group game. Defeat for Porto and a win for FC Copenhagen would see the Dane’s sneak into second place and secure a very in the Round of 16.
In the first encounter between these two sides Leicester run out 1-0 winners at The King Power Stadium and Porto will look to overturn that in a bid to secure qualification to the Round of 16. Islam Slimani’s goal was the difference when these two sides faced but it will be interesting to see if he starts after Shinji Okazaki scored in the defeat to Sunderland on Saturday.
Porto by their own high domestic standards aren’t having the best of times with them currently third in the Primera Liga. They find themselves four points behind arch rivals Benfica who top the league with Sporting Lisbon two points clear in second.
This could be the end of Porto’s Champions League adventure and they may well struggle to qualify for next season’s edition that said I think they will be able to get the necessary points required to advance. I’m going to opt for a home win for Porto as Leicester’s woes in the road continues.
