Despite back-to-back defeats going into this month’s international break, Leicester City remain the standout side in the Championship.
Leicester City remain in 1st but now level on points with Ipswich Town in 2nd, after Enzo Maresca saw his side lose vs Leeds United and Middlesbrough before the international break.
The break perhaps came at a good time for the Foxes who were steamrolling their way back to the Premier League before the aforementioned defeats, with these two weeks being a good time for the Leicester players to reflect on their start to the season.
And one player who’s enjoyed a definite career resurgence under Maresca is centre-back Jannik Vestergaard.
Vestergaard back to his best at Leicester City
Leicester City paid Southampton £15million for Vestergaard in the summer of 2021.
But it’s not been an easy time for the Dane who made just 10 Premier League appearances in his first season, before being completely exiled for the second.
He was then outcasted by the Danish national side too, but having since featured in all but one of Leicester’s 16 league fixtures so far this season, Vestergaard is back in the Denmark team and finally showing Leicester fans why he was brought to the club.
And the 31-year-old has a lot of thanks for Maresca. He said of the Italian earlier in the season:
“I’m playing at my absolute best level again and I’ll come home with a lot of joy and confidence. I simply enjoy playing football. Our manager [Maresca] has a very positive, modern, creative style of play with a lot of possession, where I have a good and exciting role in the build-up game as a kind of playmaker from the back. The plan is for me to set a rhythm and play up through the lines. Our manager has a clear philosophy where we work very tactically, and that is one of my strengths.”
What the stats say…
Maresca’s newfound style of play, which does focus heavily on possession and building from the back, has made Vestergaard one of the most prominent players in the Championship.
As per WhoScored, the Dane averages the most passes per game of anyone in the league (102.1), followed by teammate Harry Winks (91.7).
To add to that, Vestergaard has the fifth-best pass accuracy in the Championship this season (93.2%) with Winks (95.2%) and Hamza Choudhury (95.5%) ahead of him.
And the fact that Leicester have by far the best defensive record in the league (10 goals conceded, with Leeds United the next best defence with 16 goals conceded), obviously speaks volumes about Vestergaard and this Foxes side as a whole.
They’re not only playing attractive football, but it’s effective at both ends of the pitch.
Vestergaard is finally proving his worth at the club and with his contract out at the end of the season, he’s certainly giving the club a lot of food for thought.