It’s taken a while but Nigerian international striker Kelechi Iheanacho is finally establishing himself in the English Premier League. Having made his debut for Manchester City back in 2015, the attacker found opportunities limited as he tried to get ahead of the great Sergio Aguero in the starting lineup.
Iheanacho moved to Leicester City in 2017 but he initially found himself in a similar situation as he battled with established Foxes striker Jamie Vardy. He remained patient and, as the new season in England develops, Iheanacho has been involved in each of Leicester’s first ten Premier League matches of the campaign.
Competition for Places
When Leicester City signed the promising Zambian striker Patson Daka in the close season, many felt that Kelechi Iheanacho would have to give way. Daka arrived at the King Power Stadium after a prolific four years with Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg where he averaged at better than a goal every other game.
Despite that record and a transfer fee believed to be worth £23 million GBP, Daka has only featured in three of Leicester’s first ten Premier League matches of the 2021/22 campaign. Kelechi Iheanacho has been preferred as the team’s support striker for Jamie Vardy but the pressure remains on the Nigerian.
Across those first ten games, Iheanacho has scored just once and that’s a record that clearly needs to improve. The focus will be on in the next few weeks with Patson Daka patiently waiting for a chance to impress.
Related: Leicester City Legend Elliot Talks Up Iheanacho-Daka Partnership
Foxes Falter
Leicester City may have a potent strike force at their disposal but Brendan Rodgers’ side have struggled at the start of the new season. Having narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification at the end of 2020/21 much was expected of the Foxes this time around but the side were languishing in 12th place in the table after those first ten games.
That leaves Leicester with much to do over the remainder of the season and they have a battle to get back into those European places. According to Saudi Arabian betting sites linked to Arabianbetting.com, Brendan Rodgers’ men are among the rank outsiders to finish inside that top four.
Ahead of Leicester in that top four market are Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, West Ham United, Spurs, Arsenal and Everton. It’s going to be a tough challenge but, as the Premier League weeks roll by, Arabianbetting will update those odds and an improvement in results will see Leicester climb the rankings.
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National Duties
Iheanacho’s finest moments for Leicester City this season came in the Carabao Cup where his efforts helped to secure a draw at the end of normal time. The Nigerian was sharp up front and, while he didn’t find the net, he did help the Foxes to squeeze through in the penalty shootout.
The striker has also been vocal in terms of Leicester’s fight and their improvement on the pitch following a slow start to the season. He’s a big presence at the top of the pitch and has played his part in that comeback but Iheanacho will need to boost his scoring ratio if he is to remain as an automatic first team choice.
3 Comments
Nacho worked his way to become a regular player for the Foxes and still maintaining that position. That he needs to improve on his goal scoring, every player is part of a football game plan where responsibilities are assigned. Putting together a game plan is an elaborate exercise in the art of footballing while every player is important, running interference for Vardy in Leicester doesn’t give Nacho that opportunity to score all the time, that is not saying players don’t experience off days. He usually play just in behind the main striker, his work load is to support the MDF where he often gets supplies and ensure these get to Vardy if well positioned or he decides to take a shot at goal if free to do so. Clearly, he needs to improve on his scoring rate but his position can’t be compared to top9 whose job is basically to score goals.
SHUT UP!!!. WHERE YOU NOT AMOGST THE CHIOR THAT WAS DEBATING WITH ME FEW WERKS AGO SAYING HE IS A BENCH WARMER WHEN IT CAME OUT Ighalo was coming back! Just to prove your point. When I tell you people when I talk i am always vindicated. Now you are dere talking Grammer to confuse people. Just sharap dere and keep chopping belle full on bribe money. Anumanu.
pS he is a great goal scorer as the article clearly pointed out he is under pressure which Instated when Rohr was throwing under the bus. That is what happens when you play for a competitive team in a competitive league. Nonsense!!!
@Ugo Iwunze, you don’t have to resort to insults to be heard, it only goes to show how uncouth you are.
I am entitled to my opinion so it doesn’t really matter what I said about Nacho in the past. Probably you are a football fan who doesn’t really understand how the game is patterned. See, Iheanacho is a box to box player that plays on the CD(central defence), he defends and also attacks as an offensive player. His work load is higher than any player on the pitch. It’s possible you are in your late 20s or below(my assessment based on your reasoning), so, you wouldn’t really understand. See, before now, jersey no8 is not even expected to score but to support MDF and also feed the top9 who is the main scorer, and if no8 does scores, it is taken as one of those goals. Only recently jersey no8 is expected to compete with jersey top9 for goals.