Leicester City have 12 players away on international duty as Steve Cooper works with a streamlined squad ahead of facing Southampton next match.
Steve Cooper will be eyeing back to back Premier League wins against Southampton after Leicester City beat Bournemouth 1-0 prior to the international break.
Facundo Buonanotte scored the only goal of the game and Cooper will be left sweating on the Argentine who will return to Leicester very late after being called up to the Argentina senior side.
The Leicester boss will have been pleased to see defender Jannik Vestergaard start for Denmark after a month out injured, but his teammate for club and country, Victor Kristiansen, endured a difficult night as the Danes lost 1-0 to Spain on Saturday.
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Leicester City’s Victor Kristiansen has tough night against Lamine Yamal
Kristiansen has started every league game since Cooper took over, having been allowed to spend last season on loan at Bologna.
The left-back has enjoyed quite the turnaround having not been fancied by Enzo Maresca last year and played as a wing back up against 17-year-old Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal on Saturday night.
Danish media did not hold back in their assessment of how Kristiasen fared against the teenager, with EkstraBladet scoring the 21-year-old’s display a three out of ten, commenting: “A lazy evening at the office for VK.
“Lamine Yamal is quite a handful, yes, but that’s no excuse for being sloppy and slow with and without the ball.
“Offensively, we also saw too little of the Leicester player. But after all, a bit more than the colleague on the opposite side.”
Tipsbladet were similarly unimpressed and scored Kristiansen a two out of six, adding: “Got the thankless task of playing opposite Lamine Yamal, and ‘VK’ was also overplayed at the end of the first half, where the Barcelona star fortunately kicked over.
“All the Spanish fans at the Estadio Enrique Roca thought there was a penalty for Spain when Victor Kristiansen edged Morata right on the edge of the penalty. Fortunately, it was just outside the box.
“But the Leicester player was a bit on the heels today and didn’t manage to do much offensively.”
Kristiansen should be well rested ahead of Leicester vs Southampton
Cooper takes his Leicester players to the south coast on Saturday for a crucial game against fellow newly-promoted Southampton.
Leicester have had a very settled back four under Cooper and Kristiansen should reprise his left-back role at St Mary’s in a game where Cooper will need the Dane to be at his best.
Kristiansen picked up a booking against Spain which subsequently means he will miss Tuesday night’s UEFA Nations League clash against Switzerland through suspension.
Whilst this is unfortunate for the player himself, it should ensure he returns to Seagrave well rested ahead of another crunch match in the battle for survival.