Wolves 0-0 Leicester City: Foxes fortunate not to lose rather than unfortunate not to win

By Ben Sanderson

Leicester City make it one win in five league games after holding out for a no-score draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.

It was a game the Foxes were fortunate not to lose rather than unfortunate not to win.

Wolves had more shots (15 against Leicester’s 9) and better shots too.

Wolves even had the ball in the net and the lead, but Pedro Neto’s offside heel ruled out Willy Boly’s 2nd goal of the season towards the end of the first half.

Boly had scored from a Wolves corner, assisted by a headed cross along the penalty box by Matty Doherty, who rose above Hamza Choudhury to head it to Boly.

VAR was Leicester’s friend as it emerged Neto was offside in the build-up to the goal by a mere heel.

Choudhury, an exceptionally unimpressive replacement for injured Wilfred Ndidi, was sent off after losing possession carelessly and sliding in to slightly trip up Leander Dendoncker, receiving a second booking in the process.

Wolves shot over the bar four times in the match, and Jonny was the first to have a near-miss, heading over a Doherty cross on the half-hour mark.

Raul Jimenez not long later shot over the bar after Ricardo Pereira deflected a cross into his path.

Adama Traore, a second-half substitute, crossed to Jimenez, but a sight that has become increasingly familiar this season was not to be in this match, as Jimenez headed the cross over in the final ten minutes.

The crossbar was beaten again by the Mexican in the last shot of the game, after an encouraging Wolves move which saw Traore test Kasper Schmeichel with a diving save.

Having gathered possession following sloppy play by the Leicester defence, Wolves got the ball to Jimenez, who eventually shot over.

A sweetly-struck Joao Moutinho shot from long range which went wide and a Jimenez header wide from a Moutinho corner were other golden chances for the golden team that simply could not find a winning goal.

A couple of tame Harvey Barnes shots were all Leicester could muster in reply, as they were certainly the weaker of the two teams tonight.

It provokes a time of tactical reflection for the Foxes, who must now consider whether the trademark 4-5-1 formation remains the right one to use.

While still 3rd in the Premier League (albeit one point behind Manchester City having played a game more), the formation seems to leave Jamie Vardy with too much to do, and could be culpable for the lack of goals scored by the Foxes.

The Premier League’s top scorer managed only three touches in the opening half-hour and was scarcely involved all game.

It seems Leicester need to start using a new system which shifts the pressure off Vardy for a bit and brings other scorers into the fold to give Leicester more firepower.

It certainly seems that Leicester desperately need to rediscover the dynamism that leaves them third in the table, because it certainly has been lacking this calendar year.