Leeds has a recurring issue with Leicester City while a substitute Enzo Maresca plan is revealed

Analysis from Leicester City’s 1-0 defeat to Leeds, looking at what went wrong, the start to the second half, Cesare Casadei’s performance, the lack of subs, and more

just as he did for the only other Championship game Leicester City have lost this season, Enzo Maresca emerged for his post-match press conference with a smile on his face.

He was satisfied with his side’s performance against Leeds, so there was little need for him to be angry or upset that the club’s record winning streak had come to an end. The result “is just small details”, he said.

So what were those small details that stopped City from making it 10 in a row? On the face of it, there was the width of a crossbar, a superb last-minute save, and some static set-piece defending.

But there’s more to it than that. Maresca argued that City deserved something from the game. A draw, maybe. But if either side merited victory, it was the visitors.

Leeds executed their gameplan more effectively, and more consistently, than City did. Their swift counter-attacks caused more danger than City’s more methodical approach. They were good.

It’s not that City were bad, but neither were they anywhere near the heights they have reached at points this season. They started both halves slowly, particularly the first period, where they played as if they had not anticipated Leeds being so aggressive nor pumped up for a top-of-the-table clash.

They didn’t make the most of their attacks when they did find gaps through the middle. They were hard to come by with Ethan Ampadu and Glen Kamara both performing well in front of Leeds’ back-line, but there were a few times where passes were slipped between them, particularly in the final 25 minutes of the first half, and City did not make enough of those openings.

Their best route to goal was down the flanks, where Stephy Mavididi and Abdul Fatawu were having plenty of joy up against their full-backs, both players recording season bests for their number of successful take-ons. But their crosses didn’t cause as much trouble as they should have.

This was not because they were poor balls into the box – albeit Fatawu did overhit a few to the far post – but rather because it felt like Jamie Vardy, Cesare Casadei, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, as the striker and two number eights, weren’t sharp enough in the danger zone, or simply weren’t there at all. A devilish Mavididi ball across the six-yard box was begging for a Vardy finish, but he was stationary around the penalty spot. Another clipped cross looked like landing at Casadei’s feet, but he didn’t react quickly enough.

When the second half came, Fatawu and Mavididi’s influence had waned a little, so the extra bodies in the box didn’t get the service. Still, City’s best two late chances, a blocked Kelechi Iheanacho shot and Dewsbury-Hall’s last-gasp header, both came from Fatawu’s crosses. It was the route to go but City didn’t make best use of it.

Defensively, they actually marshalled Leeds’ counters pretty well, although they did need some excellent last-ditch defending from Ricardo Pereira in the first half. The set-up for the decisive corner and the reaction to the rebound were poor though.

So there was nothing drastically wrong with City’s performance. As Maresca said, it comes down to the “small details”. But if there are enough small details that aren’t quite right, City will lose matches, especially against the Championship’s better teams.

Leeds take advantage during City’s problem period

While the start to the first half was worse for City in how slow their players were to react, in how dominant Leeds were, and in how often the visitors moved the ball into promising positions, it was the start to the second half that was more concerning. There have not been too many issues that have followed City through the first few months of the season, but their slow starts to the second period are one.

While City have a superb record in the final half-hour of matches, they always need time to warm up. Leeds were not the first team to catch them cold shortly after the interval.

Split matches into six 15-minute segments and the period between the 46th and 60th minutes is the only one where City have a negative record, scoring only one goal, and conceding three. No team has scored fewer in the 15 minutes after half-time than City, and even the one goal they did score – by Dewsbury-Hall against Preston – came about 30 seconds before the hour mark. While their three goals conceded is not a lot, it is the most they’ve let in during any 15-minute period. On Friday, six of Leeds’ 11 shots came during that period, including Georginio Rutter’s goal. At the other end, City mustered nothing.

Maresca was at a loss to explain: “First half and second half, they started better than us. The reason why, I don’t know, because we usually start in the right way. It can happen. But I think afterwards the reaction was very good.”

Perhaps City are too relaxed because they are fully aware of how good they are late in games. Their record after the hour mark reads 16 goals scored, none conceded. They can get away without being electric as soon as they re-emerge because they so often wear teams down and triumph late on. But good teams like Leeds will be able to withstand 30 minutes of pressure without giving much away.

It’s nitpicking of course, but it’s best to nip bad habits in the bud. If City get promoted, they can ill afford to be so slow out of the blocks in the second half in the Premier League.

Ricardo change hints at possible alternative plan

This was City’s biggest game of the season, and it looked too big an occasion for Cesare Casadei. It probably wasn’t the actual biggest game of his career so far – he captained his country in the Under-20 World Cup final a few months ago – but it felt like a game he wasn’t ready for.

Against Sunderland a week ago, he grew into the game and gave one of his best performances. Against Leeds, he was largely bypassed, struggling to get into the match. It may just have been inconsistency that comes with being a young player.

When City are attacking, his job as a number eight is to find space to receive the ball in the final third, connecting play and making himself a threat. In the attacking third, he had eight touches on Friday, two fewer than James Justin did, and he’s a defender.

Had players been fit, Casadei probably wouldn’t have started all of the past three matches. In fact, he may not have started any of them if Maresca had Wilfred Ndidi, Dennis Praet, and Yunus Akgun to call on.

Although none of those players may be back next week, when City travel to Middlesbrough, an alternative has emerged. For the final 20 minutes, Maresca played Hamza Choudhury in the dual right-back-central-midfield position, and pushed Ricardo further forward into the number eight role.

It helped. Ricardo is one of City’s best technical operators, the Portuguese excellent in tight areas, and he has an attacking instinct too. Maybe he should stay in that role against Boro.

What City would miss is that his quick interchanges with Harry Winks deeper in midfield are both good at baiting the opposition’s press and good at getting them out of sticky situations and into attacking areas. Choudhury isn’t quite on the same level in that regard.

But without Ndidi available until after the international break, it may be a better option. It’s certainly something for Maresca to consider.

Maresca turns down fresh legs

If those players mentioned were fit, perhaps Maresca would have made more than two substitutions. Iheanacho came on as soon as the goal went in, and Choudhury replaced Casadei in the 67th minute, but no further changes were made in the final 20 minutes as City pushed for an equaliser.

Maresca didn’t feel it was necessary. He thought his team and the individuals were doing well enough that any substitution would be a change for change’s sake. Fair enough. There would have been an argument for bringing on Kasey McAteer with Fatawu’s influence appearing to die down, but the Ghanaian did then set up the Dewsbury-Hall chance at the death.

But it’s known that fresh legs do help. Giving tiring defenders a new player to think about, and an energetic one, can cause problems. So it feels like Maresca should want to make more changes.

If he feels like the drop-off in quality is too big between his starters and his subs that he doesn’t even get halfway to using his quota in a game where City are trailing, is that a concern? It suggests the squad is not quite where he wants it to be yet. Transfers next summer are inevitable, especially if City go up. But maybe there’ll be a couple in January too.

Even after nine wins in a row, a defeat still rankles. That feeling never goes away. Perhaps it feels worse because it’s come against Leeds, and there is a definite rivalry brewing between the clubs, even with a healthy gap between them in the division still.

That’s where the solace lies for City, in their 11-point cushion. This game was definitely more important for Leeds, and perhaps their performance showed that. The gap extending to 17 points would have been a bigger psychological blow for Leeds than it is for City seeing it come down to 11.

At their current rate, they will still finish with 119 points. So, more than ever, this loss is not a cause for concern. But it shows, if it wasn’t already known, that they’re not the complete package yet and that there are challengers who can hunt them down if they take their eye off the ball.