Why van Nistelrooy started De Cordova-Reid and made relegation claim | OneFootball

Leicester City Football Club are certainly not out of trouble yet with only one point separating them from the bottom three Premier League outfits. However, the Foxes made an immeasurable step towards safety by beating Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend for two glaring reasons.

Firstly, the east Midlands team have now created the confidence to believe they can challenge any English top flight side. And that even includes going to the biggest stadia around and causing an upset. In addition to that buoyant factor, LCFC did themselves the favour off adding three priceless points to their total.

Just after the midway stage, is avoiding relegation and being sent back down to the Championship now a realistic target? To examine those aspects, we ask two other questions. Why did Ruud van Nistelrooy take the gamble of starting winger Bobby De Cordova-Reid all of a sudden? Did the decision prevail in the Tottenham Hotspur victory? And what claim did the Dutchman in charge make regarding survival?

Bobby De Cordova-Reid in the mix at Leicester City

De Cordova-Reid is another player I quite liked and wanted to succeed for his personality if nothing else. Similarly to Kelechi Iheanacho. The former Fulham player is a talent; whether he was the right summer signing to help the Foxes is questionable. Again, that element is kind of comparable to Jordan Ayew's situation.

When van Nistelrooy finally gave the Jamaica international his chance away at Tottenham Hotspur - the attacker delivered. De Cordova-Reid ultimately supplied the assists for both Jamie Vardy and Bilal El Khannouss' goals. RvN was totally justified in handing the 31-year-old a maiden start during his tenure: