Leicester City know what’s at hand for them now. Win or bust.
With only 10 games of the season remaining, the Foxes are six points adrift of safety, a number that could stretch to nine if Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Southampton.
Ruud van Nistelrooy made a huge tactical tweak for the defeat against Chelsea and despite losing 1-0, Leicester fans were impressed with the new formation.
By playing five-at-the-back, James Justin was able to impress, as well as forgotten man Luke Thomas, who was singled out by Van Nistelrooy for his display.
Despite that, lots of supporters are pining for the reintroduction of Ricardo Pereira back into the starting XI.
Pereira posted an emotional social media update after coming off the bench to make his first appearance four months on from injury.
However, although he would be a welcome addition to the XI, there is another player that should be starting after Van Nistelrooy revealed he would stick to the 5-3-2.
Stephy Mavididi must replace Patson Daka
For the first time since the Dean Smith days in 2023, Leicester deployed two men up front in Jamie Vardy and Patson Daka.
Vardy certainly looked less isolated and more involved but for Daka, he was almost non-existent.
Sure, he ran a lot, but didn’t really do much else. What was more surprising was that he was the player dropping back into more defensive positions, sitting just behind Vardy.
This seemed peculiar given that he has more pace than his strike partner, who also happens to be better technically.
It was an experiment that didn’t work, which is why Stephy Mavididi should be recalled to the starting XI to play that role.
Mavididi has been restricted to a place on the bench for large portions of 2025 but in his cameo appearance against West Ham United, looked more lively in five minutes than the entire XI combined.
He is capable of playing down the middle, has the pace and trickery to get past opponents and an eye for goal too.
Stephy Mavididi’s stats show he can offer a threat
The former Arsenal academy star has every right to be frustrated that he isn’t getting a chance in the side.
Right now, Leicester have gone over 500 minutes without scoring a goal and need to change something up from an attacking sense.
| Stephy Mavididi Stats (all comps) | Goals | Assists |
| 29 | 5 | 1 |
There’s also the small matter of no home goal since 8 December in the Premier League, an unacceptable statistic.
Mavididi has five goals in all competitions this season, making him one of Leicester’s top scorers in the side. It’s time he was given his chance as in this current situation, it can’t get any worse.