Ricardo Pereira has praised the support of Leicester City supporters following their 3-2 victory over Birmingham City on Monday night.
Goals in either half saw Enzo Maresca’s side seal their fourth consecutive win – their 18th of the term, and it gave the Foxes clear daylight at the top of the Championship.
Leicester are now three points clear of second place Ipswich Town and a further ten above third place Leeds United, who dropped points at home to Coventry City on Saturday.
Following this result, Ricardo Pereira praised the attributes demonstrated by his teammates and hailed the atmosphere created by the fans in the away end.
Taking to X, he said: “Massive 3 points
With determination, passion, commitment and togetherness
Thank you to the fans for the atmosphere”
The display saw Leicester squeeze every inch of quality out of their squad and punish the hosts on the counter-attack.
Maresca’s side were devastatingly good on the break as Abdul Fatawu, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Stephy Mavididi attacked the space in front of them and provided the quality to match.
At the other end of the field, Periera showcased why he’s so important to Maresca’s system.
How important has Ricardo Pereira been for Leicester this season?
Since the Italian’s arrival in the summer, Pereira has seamlessly transitioned into his role as an inverted full back.
The Portuguese gem marauds into midfield when his side have possession and this creates an overload in the centre of the pitch that allows Leicester to dominate matches.
Although he’s naturally a right-sided defender, who likes to bomb forward at any opportunity, Maresca has taken advantage of his technical attributes by moulding him into a creator.
Pereira is excellent at manipulating possession and can take the ball in tight spaces while offering the Foxes a force of creativity from deep.
The 30-year-old has underscored his importance to the Leicester squad by creating the third most big chances (5), the fourth most accurate passes per game (91%) and fifth most key passes (1.1), as per Sofascore.
It’s this creativity that is key to Leicester sustaining attacks and makes them unpredictable in possession.
When Pereira moves inside to create an overload in midfield, this opens up space for Fatawu on the right and offers a passing avenue.
This is why the Foxes are so devastating in wide areas as they work the space for their wingers so well to isolate the full-back.
Indeed, the role of Pereira is crucial for the system to work and the statistics speak volumes about the impact he’s making in their pursuit of the title.