Leicester 2-0 Southampton: Three Foxes Talking Points | OneFootball

Running out of players

The Leicester team that took the field on Saturday was easy to predict. Given that so many players – Mads Hermansen, Ricardo Pereira, Stephy Mavididi, Funcundo Buoanotte, and Bobby De Cordova-Reid – are injured, that Harry Winks and Jannik Vestergaard are not in the first team squad now, and Ruud van Nistelrooy has been reluctant to play the youngsters, the team largely picked itself. The only surprise was the inclusion of Oliver Skipp who got a rare start in place of Boubakary Soumare. Three youngsters – Jeremy Monga, Jake Evans and Michael Golding were on the bench.

Vardy edges closer to 200

For the first time in a while, Leicester came up against an inferior team. In what one wag called the ‘Elshittico’, two first half goals, a snapshot from Vardy – his 199th for the club – and a crisp strike from Jordan Ayew after his free kick had come back off the wall, ensured victory. To illustrate what a poor season this has been for the Foxes, It was only van Nistelrooy’s third league win as manager, the first home victory and first home goal since December, and the first clean sheet home or away since October.

It was a poor game, particularly in the second half when neither side looked capable of altering the score. There were two events of note. First, there was a 15-minute hold up in the first half when the referee, David Webb, came off worse in a clash with Ayew. To, literally true, chants of ‘you’re not fit to referee’, he was substituted by Sam Barratt, one of the poorest referees in the Premier League. In the second event of note, the latter stages of the game saw the arrival of all three younsters from the bench. A glimpse of the future was welcome although none of them were on long enough to impress.

The main interest in this game was as a pointer to next season where the Foxes and the Saints will be looking for an immediate return to the Premier League. It is no such thing of course because both teams will undergo extensive surgery over the summer. Leicester’s owner set the scene in his programme notes when he promised that ‘there are decisions to be made in a number of areas’.

In Leicester’s case, it is worth speculating that probably around half of Saturday’s squad will move on. Jamie Vardy, of course, has announced he is leaving. In addition, the club have reportedly put a transfer fee on the head of Wout Faes. Bilal El Khannouss is being linked with Arsenal, Victor Kristensen with Everton (believe it or not) and Wilfred Ndidi with various European outfits. Conor Coady, Boubakary Soumare and Patson Daka could also be waving goodbye to the club.

Given the likely exodus in the summer, these final few games of the season are pointless, and I’m sure I’m not the only Leicester fan who wants the campaign to end as soon as possible.