Premier League hits and misses: Jamie Vardy and Patrick Bamford woes shows Leicester have more than Leeds in relegation fight
Tale of two strikers shows Leicester have more than Leeds
Leeds have one more point than Leicester. But you just feel that the team with less is using more.
- Leeds 1-1 Leicester – report and highlights
- How the teams lined up | Match stats | Premier League table
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from the Premier League match between Leeds and Leicester
This relegation six-pointer turned on the 70th minute, when Dean Smith brought on Patson Daka and Jamie Vardy to try and change the tide. Both players had immediate and essential impacts on the game as Leicester clawed back a point.
Leeds and Javi Gracia, meanwhile, stuck with what they had. Wilfried Gnonto remained on the bench – not even the injury of Luis Sinisterra could force him on – and the hosts stuck with Bamford who was offering little.
And the 10 minutes where it became a tale of two strikers could have huge consequences come the end of May.
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Image: A dejected Patrick Bamford walks off the pitch following the 1-1 draw with Leicester
Leeds dropped two, failed to get them back with Bamford’s miss. Leicester took a point when, for three quarters of the game, they barely troubled their hosts.
You just feel that Leicester are using everything they have to try and get out of this mess. Gracia and Leeds are perhaps holding a little back…
Sam Blitz
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Unai Emery: The trap king
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Fulham
Unai Emery is the trap king.
Emery is building something special at Aston Villa and the work he has done with this defence is remarkable.
They’ve conceded just three goals in their last 10 matches with Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa reformed characters from the Steven Gerrard days where clean sheets were hard to come by. At the heart of this defensive masterclass is their ability to catch players offsides. They trap like no other team. Mings and Konsa are so in sync.
- Aston Villa 1-0 Fulham – Match report and highlights
- How the teams lined up | Match stats | Premier League table
Even when the clock was ticking into stoppage time against Fulham, normally a team would be defending deep in their box – not Villa.
They were pushing up near the halfway line and caught a Fulham player offside for the fifth time in the game. It’s now 40 offsides against in their last 10 games – the highest of any team in the Premier League for that period.
Lewis Jones
Neves and Bueno return key for Wolves
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from the Premier League match between Wolves and Crystal Palace
Had Wolves lost to Chelsea earlier this month they would have found themselves just one point above the relegation zone with eight games to play. Instead, victory at Molineux that day preceded two more in front of their own fans. They are now nine points clear.
Julen Lopetegui made some big decisions for the win over Crystal Palace. Ruben Neves is the team’s captain and best player but his impact off the bench at Leicester was not a positive one and Wolves had won the previous two matches when he was suspended.
His recall was a success, creating the first goal and scoring the second. Just as significant was the contribution of Hugo Bueno, returning to the starting line-up for the first time since the first day of March. He brings much more of an attacking threat than Toti Gomes.
- Wolves 2-0 Crystal Palace – Match report and highlights
- How the teams lined up | Match stats
Bueno was involved in the move that led to the opener, feeding Diego Costa inside the box. The contribution of the veteran striker is another triumph for Lopetegui. His time at Wolves looked to be ending unremarkably but he has emerged as a pivotal figure of late.
Lopetegui is working with a large squad that will need to be sifted through in the summer. Some of the starters are out of contract, Costa among them. Others will surely leave too. In the meantime, the Wolves boss deserves credit for focusing minds. And making big calls.
Adam Bate
Terry the only solution to fix Leicester’s defence?
If Dean Smith can fix Leicester’s leaky defence then their firepower will lead them to Premier League safety.
The Foxes have conceded a goal in each of their last 18 games, their joint-longest run without a clean sheet in the league.
Image: Luis Sinisterra celebrates with team-mate Jack Harrison after heading Leeds in front against Leicester
Leeds chalked up an xG of 1.70 as Patrick Bamford missed a sitter to spare Leicester a point. By then, Luis Sinisterra had already breached the visitors’ defence which has been hampered by injuries.
Ryan Bertrand, Ricardo Perreira, Jonny Evans, Jannik Vestergaard and James Justin are all sidelined. Leicester’s problems have stemmed from a constantly rotating backline and now a lack of options.
Jack Harrison recognised that Victor Kristiansen looked a bag of nerves at left-back and gave him a torrid night, but there was little Smith could do about it. At this stage, Leicester coach John Terry, 42, looks like a good option.
David Richardson
Be kind to Silva’s Beach Boys, they deserve a holiday
Image: Fulham's Andreas Pereira (left) attempts a shot on goal
Fulham head coach Marco Silva wasn’t happy with suggestions his players were “on the beach” earlier this week having just recorded back-to-back wins in the Premier League.
Even if the Fulham players aren’t at the seaside psychologically, they certainly didn’t turn up to Villa Park on Tuesday night.
They became just the third side this season to register just a single shot in a Premier League game.
Fulham have been a revelation all season and to be in ninth at this late stage is a massive overachievement so there’s no reason to dwell too much on this performance.
But, let’s be honest, they just want their holidays at this point. They deserve it, too.
Zinny Boswell
Positives even in defeat for Palace
Image: Jordan Ayew takes a shot on goal in the first half
It may have been the first defeat of Roy Hodgson’s second spell in charge of Crystal Palace, but a familiar flaw raised its ugly head at Molineux.
For the 15th time this season, Palace failed to score – the joint-most of any side in the Premier League this season, alongside Bournemouth.
Thankfully for the Eagles, their revival under Hodgson, which has established a nine-point lead over the sides in the bottom three, ensured a first loss in five didn’t carry as much weight as it could have done.
There were positives to be drawn in defeat for Palace. For the fifth straight game of Hodgson’s reign, they registered more than 10 shots in a Premier League, a feat they managed just once in the five games prior to his return.
Palace have turned a season-saving corner under Hodgson. With his task of keeping them in the Premier League almost complete, a setback at Molineux shouldn’t take any gloss of what’s been accomplished.
Jack Wilkinson
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