Ruud van Nistelrooy has revealed why he opted to drop one Leicester City star for the Foxes’ trip to Liverpool.
Leicester face one of their most difficult tests of the season and Liverpool’s Boxing Day record won’t fill them with optimism.
The Foxes have made several changes to the side, with Jakub Stolarczyk making his Premier League debut and Patson Daka replacing the injured Jamie Vardy.
Harry Winks is also back in the line up, replacing Oliver Skipp.
Vardy’s absence is the big highlight but the other big headline is Van Nistelrooy’s decision to drop Danny Ward from the squad entirely.
What Ruud van Nistelrooy has said about dropping Danny Ward from Leicester side
Ward was booed by Leicester fans for his performance against Wolves after playing a key part in all three goals.
Van Nistelrooy defended Ward in his post-match comments after the Wolves loss but while explaining the decision to drop the Wales international from the squad entirely, the Dutchman told Amazon Prime that the reaction of the supporters did play a role.
He said: “The circumstances with [Ward] were intense, bad. We all felt it and it’s puts you in a position where you have to make decision in conversation with the player.
“The way he acted and stood up for the club, I take my hat off to him in that sense.”
Jakub Stolarczyk makes Premier League debut for Leicester City
With Leicester still missing Mads Hermansen through injury, a decision had to be taken on who would play in goal for the Foxes at Anfield.
Although on the bench, Daniel Iversen seems out of the equation and thankfully, the return of Stolarczyk after a long injury lay-off means he was deemed fit to start.
The Polish shot-stopper was the Foxes’ number two last season and impressed in his rare outings last season but was given the ultimate task of making his Premier League debut at the league leaders.