Leicester City are sitting pretty at the summit of the Championship table, though, after two losses on the bounce, they may be starting to look over their shoulder.
Enzo Maresca‘s side suffered a 3-1 defeat to Leeds United on Friday evening, cutting their gap at the top to six points.
The action-packed clash at Elland Road saw The Foxes go ahead through an unlikely goalscorer in Wout Faes, who headed home Patson Daka‘s flick on.
Though, after a pretty dominant 80 minutes, Leicester crumbled when Burnley loanee Conor Roberts levelled and they ultimately conceded a further two goals, sending the Leeds faithful into complete bedlam.
The defeat also saw Denmark international Jannik Vestergaard booked for the 10th time this season, meaning he will have to serve a two-game suspension.
Enzo Maresca now has a selection dilemma at Leicester
Maresca has a selection dilemma ahead of his side’s trip to Bournemouth in mid-week and on the weekend against Queens Park Rangers.
The former Manchester City assistant must pick between two players to replace Vestergaard; Ben Nelson or Conor Coady.
The latter represents a more experienced head, who has been in a promotion-winning team before whilst the former is a promising teenager that has been capped by England at youth level.
It’s a tough decision but there is evidence to suggest he’ll opt for the 19-year-old defender over his £7.5m summer signing.
Ben Nelson in line to start
During Leicester’s 5-0 demolition job of Stoke City at the start of the month, Vestergaard was forced off at half-time through injury.
Many were anticipating Coady to come on and replace the big Dane but rather surprisingly, on came young Nelson.
The following game, with Vestergaard still out, the Foxes academy graduate made his first league start for the club in a 2-1 win against Watford, leaving Coady rooted to the bench.
That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, though, given Maresca’s previous words on Nelson. “We know what kind of player Ben is,” the Italian head coach said in January.
“He will have a big future. It’s just how we manage him. It’s important when we give him the chance that he shows us that he’s ready and he shows us what kind of player he is. For sure, we’re going to give him more chances.”
So with that in mind, it would suggest Nelson could be in line to start against Bournemouth and Queens Park Rangers.