Leicester City’s decline is due to misfiring star James Maddison
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For all of the success and praise Brendan Rodgers has received this season at Leicester City, the club are on the verge of ending the season in a bad way. The Foxes were eliminated from the FA Cup on Sunday by Chelsea in the quarterfinals, 1-0, which was their third straight match after the restart without a win.
It was the second cup disappointment at the King Power Stadium this season after losing in the semifinals to Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup. Now, with seven matches left in the league season, Rodgers’ team are dangerously close of also falling out of the top four.
Leicester City are third in the Premier League after 32 matchdays but only one point has them ahead of fourth-placed Chelsea. The Blues are charging up the table and playing well and could overtake the Foxes in the fight for the top three.
Both Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers are also on the cusps of the top four and could help push Leicester City out of the Champions League qualification places.
Even before the Covid-19 league break, Leicester City were struggling to win games. Just four of their last 12 games before the break ended in victories. That same form has carried over to post-Covid-19 break with just two points from six possible taken.
Leicester City’s flowing attack has been replaced by a team unable to cut through defences. Top stars Jamie Vardy and James Maddison have both slowed and neither have made much of an impact on the team recently.
Maddison, in particular, has declined as the season has gone on. Listening to the praise from the English football media, it is difficult to believe Maddison has been in as bad of form as he has.
The midfielder hasn’t scored a league goal since matchday 21. He has now gone 10 games without a goal.
More worryingly for Leicester City has been Maddison’s lack of assists this season. He has tallied just three league assists with the final one coming on matchday 16. For a player regularly praised for his creative play, Maddison has now gone 15 games without an assist.
As it stands, Maddison’s league statistics are no better than last term in spite of Rodgers having a nearly full season at the helm. Maddison scored seven goals and seven assists in the Premier League last season which was his first at the King Power Stadium.
Maddison’s expected assists are 5.73 while his expected goals number is 4.90. While the goals have exceeded expectations, his assists haven’t. In fact, Maddison has failed to exceed his expected assists mark the last two league seasons.
Are Leicester City’s problems all due to Maddison? Of course not. However, his struggles in the second half of the season have coincided with Leicester City’s decline.
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