FFT's Chris Flanagan was in the press box at the King Power Stadium to analyse Leicester City's 2-2 draw against West Ham United using Stats Zone - FREE on iOS and Android...
1. Can Leicester cope without star striker?
Rarely before has a referee been booed off the pitch quite so vociferously as Jon Moss was at the King Power Stadium this afternoon. Not only had the West Yorkshire official left Leicester without their star striker and with a man short for 34 minutes of this game, but the Foxes must also cope without Vardy at home to Swansea City next weekend too.
Moss' highly controversial decision to hand Vardy a second yellow card for diving undoubtedly turned this match. It was the 29-year-old's first dismissal since he was sent off for a dangerous challenge while playing for Fleetwood against Kidderminster in the Conference in 2011, and FA rules do not allow clubs to appeal against red cards for two bookings.
Vardy has been pivotal to everything Leicester have done this season, and has started every Premier League match up until now. Crucially, it was his recall to the starting line-up that was a major factor in the Foxes' turnaround at the end of last season too. Leicester won seven, drew two and lost only two after he returned to the team.
The Foxes' ability to win is simply unproven without Vardy. They could not beat West Ham side who benefited greatly from their one-man advantage, and now Tottenham will hope they cannot beat Swansea. Spurs can close the gap to five points if they win at Stoke on Monday night, and will have their sights on reducing that deficit to two or three points next week. We just don't know how Leicester will adapt without their main man up front.
Leo Ulloa is expected to start alongside Shinji Okazaki against Swansea, and he has worked tirelessly when introduced as a substitute this season - but almost always alongside Vardy. Okazaki, Riyad Mahrez and Marc Albrighton are the three most substituted players in the Premier League this term. Vardy has usually stayed on.
Now Claudio Ranieri must rely on Ulloa to take the leading role. He will hold the ball up competently, but does he have the pace to stretch the defence like Vardy? Of the 18 passes he received in the second half of this game, most were in harmless areas of the field.
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Vardy's value was demonstrated in this game with his 22nd Premier League goal of the season, taking him level with Harry Kane at the top of the goal charts. A swift counter attack and Vardy was alert, using his speed to break into space before finishing with clinical ease - just as he had done twice at Sunderland a week ago.
Attempting to beat Swansea without Vardy may just be Leicester's biggest test of this incredible season, although Ranieri is putting his faith in Ulloa.
"I'm very sad because now Jamie doesn't play the next match," the Italian said afterwards. "But I think Ulloa can replace him. He's a fantastic man, a fantastic player and I'm sure we'll play with the same level, the same strength, the same will."
2. Leicester never trail for long
Claudio Ranieri's men looked set for a sixth successive clean sheet until the devastating blow of two West Ham goals in three minutes - first a penalty from Andy Carroll, then a wonder strike from left back Aaron Cresswell.
Hammers boss Slaven Bilic revealed afterwards that Cresswell's goal came as a result of specific tactical instructions. "After we equalised we tried to score another one, we pushed our full backs up even more," the Croatian said. "Cresswell scored a wonderful goal, from the position of left winger."
There seemed to be no way back for Leicester's 10 men at that point, but they responded within nine minutes thanks to Ulloa's late leveller from the penalty spot. Incredibly, it means that Leicester have still only trailed for a sum total of 56 minutes in the 23 matches they have played since the start of November.
"When we conceded the second goal, our players wanted to draw very much," Ranieri said. "Always I believed. We showed this season that everything is possible with the Foxes."
3. Kante may be the man most in demand
Leicester's three nominees for the PFA player of the year award all linked up for the Foxes' first goal - with Riyad Mahrez and N'Golo Kante combining to supply Vardy.
Mahrez is favourite to win the PFA award, with Vardy next in line. Kante is only fifth favourite but it is the Frenchman who could be the Leicester player most in demand this summer.
While Mahrez and Vardy have undoubtedly had stunning seasons, to an extent their success has come against expectations and it's harder to judge how they will fare next season. Mahrez has 16 Premier League goals this term compared to four a year ago, Vardy netted only five last season.
Kante, in contrast, has simply continued what he was doing for Caen in France's top flight last season. Then, his average of 3.9 tackles per game was the highest of any player in Europe's big five leagues.
This season he tops the Premier League tackle count with 147 in 34 games, an average of 4.3 tackles per game - even higher than last season. Nemanja Matic topped the Premier League stats last term with only 129 tackles for the entire season.
Kante actually only completed one tackle in this match, a surprising statistic for him, but he still contributed hugely in other ways. Kante completed five out of five clearances - three with his head, despite standing at only 5ft 7in tall. One wag on Twitter also pondered whether Kante ever actually stops running - whether he allows himself a brief sit-down when he goes home of an evening, or simply spends the night running in circles around his garden until it's time for training the next day.
The newly-capped Frenchman has been compared with Claude Makelele but his role in Vardy's goal, surging forward and then providing the crucial assist, illustrated he has a side to his game that even Makelele did not possess. His form has been such that fellow summer midfield signing Gokhan Inler - Switzerland captain at the time - has now become the forgotten man of the King Power Stadium.
Leicester will be determined to hang on to Kante ahead of their maiden Champions League campaign next season, but there are very few sides in Europe who don't need someone like him right now. Real Madrid, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United - you could see a role for him in any of those squads, and plenty more besides.
One suspects the Foxes' resolve will be severely tested.
4. Payet helped West Ham take control
In fact four of the PFA award's six nominees were on the field at the King Power Stadium this afternoon, a statistic you would not have envisaged when this fixture was first announced back in June.
Dimitri Payet is West Ham's nominee and he played a huge part as the visitors completely took control following Vardy's red card. The Hammers completed 144 passes to 67 after that point, with Payet peppering the Leicester box with nine crosses in the final 34 minutes.
In total Payet attempted a huge 18 crosses during the match, nine more than anyone else, and created an impressive five chances. He also completed 14 passes in the final third, a figure matched only by West Ham team-mate Victor Moses.
West Ham finished the game with 57 per cent possession, and 19 shots to Leicester's six.
5. Hammers struggled without Carroll
West Ham surprisingly left Andy Carroll on the bench for this game, despite a hat-trick in his last Premier League match against Arsenal a week ago. Carroll also started against Manchester United in midweek but didn't get the chance to shine from the start here in front of watching England boss Roy Hodgson.
"I told him the only reason he wasn't starting was that he has started five games this season and two were against Arsenal and Manchester United this week," Bilic said. "We have another game now and for him to play 90 minutes in four games, he hasn't done that a lot. Bringing him on was the plan, and when he came on we counted on his quality."
West Ham started with Emmanuel Emenike up front on his own, and it could have been argued that Leicester's central defensive pairing of Robert Huth and Wes Morgan were actually more vulnerable to pace than aerial power. But Emenike had little impact, having no shots in the first half, and Carroll was introduced alongside him for the second period.
Carroll immediately gave the Hammers a focal point up front, winning all three of his aerial duels. The forward was the culprit for Leicester's late equaliser from the spot, but he also scored a penalty himself - only his third Premier League goal away from home since the start of the 2014/15 season.
Carroll's introduction allowed Emenike to become more involved, too. The Nigerian had two shots in the second half and received 17 passes - four more than in the opening period.
Analyse Leicester 2-2 West Ham yourself using Stats Zone
Chris joined FourFourTwo in 2015 and has reported from more than 20 countries, in places as varied as Ivory Coast and the Arctic Circle. He's interviewed Pele, Zlatan and Santa Claus (it's a long story), as well as covering the World Cup, AFCON and the Clasico. He previously spent 10 years as a newspaper journalist, and completed the 92 in 2017.
