Leicester City vs Southampton: A tactical and statistical analysis

By Marc Walker | Jan 17, 2021

LEICESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 16: Jan Bednarek of Southampton clears the ball from the line following a shot from Harvey Barnes of Leicester City during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Southampton at The King Power Stadium on January 16, 2021 in Leicester, England. Sporting stadiums around England remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images) /

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Jan Bednarek (L) of Southampton (Photo by Rui Vieira – Pool/Getty Images) /

Bednarek continues to perform

The defensive actions of Jan Bednarek perhaps saved Saints from losing by more goals and gave them a fighting chance for most of the second-half.

His performance at the King Power Stadium was another reminder of just how important the Poland international could become for Saints and how vital it was that he committed to a new contract at St Mary’s recently.

As Leicester looked for their second goal, Bednarek made two crucial blocks to deny the hosts doubling the score. He was then on hand to make a goalline clearance to ensure the deficit was kept to 1-0 until the latter stages.

In terms of this season, he ranks highly in all-round defensive contributions. At the time of writing, he is joint-6th for blocks, joint-8th for interceptions, joint-9th for clearances and joint-8th for headed clearances.

The 24-year-old made the most passes of any Saints player on Saturday night but still goes under the radar in comparison to his centre-back partners – maybe because he is the one doing a lot of the vital defending whilst Jannik Vestergaard or Jack Stephens impress with their ball playing.