Leicester City Looked Positive Despite Defeat

Battling Leicester looked organised but a little goal shy as Jose Mourinho’s new-look Manchester United edged an even encounter. The Foxes recovered well from a sluggish start only to be undone by Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s late header, which appeared to be marginally offside.

Positives

Leicester looked hungry and ready for a grueling, exciting season ahead. Jamie Vardy appears close to being match fit following wrist surgery and there’s clearly depth available from the bench.

Negatives

The Foxes are shipping goals and have conceded 12 in their last three games. Claudio Ranieri is also perhaps undecided on his best XI which, given his “Tinkerman” reputation may not bode well, although with depth will always come selection headaches.

Manager rating: 7/10 — A slight surprise that Ranieri benched in-form Ahmed Musa and Nampalys Mendy, but perhaps the Leicester boss felt he owed it to last season’s heroes to try and win this campaign’s first piece of silverware. The wise introduction of Musa and Demarai Gray at half-time gave City far more spark.

Player ratings (1-10; 10=best; players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating):

GK Kasper Schmeichel, 6 — Still no clean sheet in preseason, but he couldn’t have stopped either goal despite getting a foot to Jesse Lingard’s superb opener.

DF Danny Simpson, 6 — Didn’t look too troubled at the back, although he picked up a needless yellow card for a cynical foul on Wayne Rooney.

DF Wes Morgan, 6 — An uncharacteristically shaky display. Slid in and failed to win the ball for United’s first and got outmuscled by Ibrahimovic for the second.

DF Robert Huth, 8 — Led by example and looked totally at ease marking Ibrahimovic and Rooney. Unlucky to be on the losing side.

DF Christian Fuchs, 7 — Excellent at both ends of the field and continues to be a consistently unsung player.

MF Riyad Mahrez, 5 — Failed to get into the game. Luke Shaw gave him absolutely no space and he struggled to cut inside too often. The PFA Player of the Year looked short on ideas and, even worse, thoroughly disinterested at times. Ranieri must put some fire in his belly ahead of the season opener against Hull City.

MF Danny Drinkwater, 8 — A calming presence in the centre of the park. Barely put a foot wrong in front of new England boss Sam Allardyce. Has a huge role to play now that N’Golo Kante has gone to Chelsea.

MF Andy King, 7 — Offered excellent protection to the back four and did plenty of running but his passing is still a bit rusty. Nonetheless, he is pushing Mendy hard to start against Hull next weekend.

MF Marc Albrighton, 6 — Disciplined but not especially creative, he was forced to defend Antonio Valencia for much of the game. Could plausibly lose his place next weekend to Gray.

FW Shinji Okazaki, 7 — Saw one shot go just wide and hit the bar with a glancing header. As ever, he never stopped running.

FW Jamie Vardy, 8 — Latched onto a dreadful Marouane Fellani backpass and finished for Leicester’s equaliser despite being clipped by David De Gea. The goal aside, he looked sharp and clinical but Eric Bailly marked him well.

Substitutes:

FW Ahmed Musa, 7 — Looped a header over the bar but was offside anyway. Nonetheless, he caused big problems from the bench.

MF Demarai Gray, 7 — Was far more threatening than Albrighton. Will prove a useful attacking option from the bench and may well make a case to start games this season.

MF Nampalys Mendy, 7 — His best preseason cameo for Leicester so far. Confident in possession and covered a lot of ground.

DF Luis Hernandez, 7 — Appears very much at ease with the pace and physicality of the Premier League.

MF Jeffrey Schlupp, NR — Wasn’t given enough minutes to make an impact or to sway Ranieri to use him as anything other than a bit-part player.

FW Leonardo Ulloa, NR — Just had a brief cameo, something he may have to get used to.