Imperious Leicester man may hold the key in unlocking success against Bournemouth - opinion

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

Leicester will look to extend their unbeaten run in the Premier League to a fourth straight match when they host Bournemouth at the King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Foxes picked up their first win against Sheffield United last weekend after a Harvey Barnes volley won it late on. Previous to that they had drawn with Chelsea and Wolves, who are both likely to be contending for a spot in the top six this season.

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Meanwhile, the Cherries can’t really complain after their only defeat was dealt at the hands of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Just one point separates the two with it still being so early in the 2019/20 Premier League campaign – but where will this battle be won or lost this weekend?

On the Chalkboard

Brendan Rodgers’ men have scored just three times this season, two against Sheffield United and one against Chelsea.

Two of those goals have come from set-pieces which puts them joint-first in the league for scoring via this method.

Wilfred Ndidi headed home the equaliser at Stamford Bridge whilst Harvey Barnes was able to let rip from the edge of the box following a corner last weekend.

This appears to be a weakness of Bournemouth’s having conceded two goals from set-pieces this season – the joint-most in the league.

Chris Mepham poked home from a corner in their game against the Blades and Douglas Luiz smashed home a scorcher following a clearance from a corner.

Their vulnerability may suit Leicester seeing as 63% of their shots have come from outside the box, which means another scenario like Barnes or Luiz could happen.

On top of that, Caglar Soyuncu could relish their weakness on corners as he will be able to get his 6 foot 1 frame amongst the action and cause problems.

This season, he is winning an average of 5.7 aerial duels per game, so he has every chance to be the difference-maker here this weekend.

That figure is the most of anyone between the two teams with Bournemouth centre-backs all recording less – Steve Cook (3.7), Nathan Ake (1.3) and Mepham (0.5), per WhoScored.

According to Understat, Soyuncu’s expected goals with his head sits at 0.95, more than any other part of his body.

That means that the Cherries could struggle to outmuscle the imperious Turk this weekend in headed scenarios.

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