Leicester City 23/24 Fantasy Flashback
- Joe Williams
- Jul 14, 2024
- 7 min read
Before we look ahead to this season's prospects, let's first digest some takeaways from Leicester City's previous season in our 23/24 Fantasy Flashback series. In this year's 24/25 Draft Kit, we are featuring both a Fantasy Flashback and a Fantasy Forecast for every single Premier League team. The flashbacks will be available on Draft Kit launch day, while the forecasts will drop closer to draft day. Check the 24/25 Draft Kit main page often, as it's updated constantly!
In addition to reviewing top Draft PL fantasy contributors, Leicester City’s Fantasy Flashback will highlight a breakout player and a fantasy flop, analyze the impact of any injuries suffered by the Foxes, and review the team's performance as a whole. Then, be sure to check out the Leicester City 24/25 Fantasy Forecast to find out whether last season was a fluke or if we predict more of the same.
Check out our 24/25 Draft Kit for all the pre-season information you could ever need: Draft Rankings, Team Previews, Mock Drafts, Strategy, Draft 101. We've got it all!
Leicester City 23/24 Fantasy Flashback
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23/24 Leicester Player Performance
Let's review how Leicester City players fared in 23/24. Though they weren’t in the Premier League, we can analyze stats from their time in the Championship, focusing on the scoring categories used in the Draft game to draw some conclusions. We'll also discuss below any pertinent details regarding rotation, managerial tactics, and injuries. What can we learn from their performance in the last campaign?
The above table is sorted by npxG (non-penalty expected goals), as that’s the most impactful stat in the Draft PL game. However, we also get a glimpse at most of the other stat categories included in Fantrax default scoring. And it’s worth noting up front that the departure of Enzo Maresca as Leicester manager means that many of these players will inherently see their role in the team change in 24/25. Maresca’s style of play is incredibly distinct (which we’ll touch on below), and it’s extremely unlikely that the new manager will implement the same tactics. Though, without any major transfers in, the key players should remain consistent.
Leading goal scorer (and xG leader) Jamie Vardy just inked a new extension with the club and will likely continue in his role from last year, which saw him start just 18 matches with 17 sub appearances. New boys Mavididi and Fatawu lit up the wings, starting almost every match once settled at the club. Along with his 12 goals and six assists, Mavididi had the most shots on target, most touches in the attacking third, and second most shot-creating actions. Fatawu racked up the most successful dribbles on the team by more than 20 with comparatively few dispossessions. He was incredibly active in many of the ghost point categories (Interceptions, Key Passes, & Tackles Won) while also contributing 13 assists.
In the midfield, the obvious standout is Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who will be discussed in detail in the breakout section below. Wilfried Ndidi was also quite active in the Maresca system, but will likely continue to be more of a streamer in fantasy. Harry Winks put in the hard yards for this Foxes team last season, playing more minutes than any other player, but did not make much of an impact fantasy-wise. He acted as more of a CDM and (if we translate his numbers to fantasy points) wasn't that relevant to our Draft game.
In defence, the CBs were good for a handful of aerials and a couple of other ghost point categories. However, this team was the third leakiest (in goals against) in the Championship. So, the only defender worth noting is fantasy managers' old friend, Ricardo Pereira. Team high tackles, team high interceptions, combined with 45 KPs (key passes) would have made him a viable fantasy asset. However, that could all go up in smoke if his role as the inverted RB changes.
23/24 Breakout Player
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Position: Midfielder
23/24 Points: N/A
23/24 Points Per Start: N/A
It honestly doesn't do us much good to translate Dewsbury-Hall's numbers from the Championship into fantasy points, simply because the gulf in the level of competition compared to the Premier League is so glaring. But that won't stop us from making some comparisons! Just keep in mind that all of these numbers will likely decline some when Leicester make the switch to the Prem.
KDH posted 109 Key Passes last season. The Premier League leader was Bruno Fernandes with 114. This led to 14 assists for KDH (and the highest expected assisted goals in the Championship). The only EPL players with more assists were Watkins (18) and Gordon (16). Chipping in with 12 Goals, 30 Shots on Target (SOT), 59 Dribbles, and similarly solid stats in categories like Tackles Won and Interceptions means that the young phenom would have been an absolute fantasy stud. After winning Players' Player of the Season (voted on by teammates) and Men's Player of the Season (voted on by supporters), we're now suddenly wondering how many minutes he'll get al all under Maresca at Chelsea and, even if he does, is what capacity?
23/24 Fantasy Flop
Patson Daka
Position: Forward
23/24 Points: N/A
23/24 Points Per Start: N/A
Patson Daka is a strange case. Once hailed as an incredibly promising young talent, his career has sort of stalled for the moment. We're hoping that he can kickstart it next season, but 23/24 wasn't his year. Daka netted just four goals from open play on an xG of 7.1. This wastefulness ranked him in the 45th percentile for non-penalty goals despite a 94th percentile ranking in xG. At this point, Draft Lad would remind you (as he did me when I brought this up at Draft Society HQ) that Daka has actually overperformed his xG numbers the two prior seasons. Fair enough.
But Daka also fails to stack up in some other key departments: 28th percentile in progressive carries and 24th percentile in successful dribbles. Add to that five seemingly very lucky assists on just 12 Key Passes with an xA of 3.4, and it paints the picture of a very boom-or-bust fantasy asset whose reliance on goals and assists for fantasy point production will be quite high.
Injury Impact
What a breath of fresh air to be able to report that Leicester didn’t have too many impactful injuries to speak of last season. They were blessed with niggle-free seasons from even their most injury-prone players like Ricardo Pereira, James Justin, and Kelechi Iheanacho. With the exception of a couple of short spells on the treatment table for Jamie Vardy, Wilfred Ndidi, Tom Cannon, Callum Doyle, and Casey McAteer, the Foxes enjoyed a season in which players like Mads Hermansen, Wout Faes, Jannik Vestergaard, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Harry Winks, Stephy Mavididi, Issahaku Fatawu, and Pereira played nearly every match of the campaign.
There was a spell in January and February when the team lost both Vardy and Ndidi, which contributed to a run of poor results. Consequently, pressure started to mount on the manager as a team that should have run away with the Championship fell out of pole position. The club legend known by his teammates only as “Vards,” recuperated in time to secure the title for his squad with some incredible displays of attacking prowess at the end of the season.
Leicester City’s Overall Team Performance
Somehow, despite setting a record for the best start to a Championship season through 11 games, last year was anything but smooth sailing for Leicester. New boss Enzo Maresca, a stubborn and insistent manager, implemented an intricate system much akin to that of his mentor, Pep Guardiola. If you've spent any time analyzing City or Arsenal's setups, Maresca's tactics will be quite familiar. In short, Enzo demands that his side run a possession-based 4-2-3-1 system where the right back inverts into midfield on offense to spray about incisive passes. The wingers stay wide and the two 8's make attacking runs through the middle to overload the opposition. The system also features an incredibly high line for the defenders, with the goalkeeper slotting in between the center backs to act as another outfield player. And, by and large, it worked.
The problem with a possession-based, slow-building system, however, is that it's not always attractive football and it requires patience. And selling these tactics to a fan base who have seen their side execute some of the most exciting counter-attacking football in the history of the Premier League was not always easy. Many took to referring to this new style of play by the intentionally reductive phrase "passy-ball". As mentioned, Maresca is insistent and stubborn, refusing to cave to pressure from fans or the media. At one point, Enzo famously said "I arrive at this club to play with this idea. The moment there is some doubt about the idea, the day after, I will leave. It's so clear. No doubts."
Not surprisingly, some fans never warmed to him, which exacerbated the tension during their poor run of form just after the new year. After spending a couple of weeks outside of the title spot, Leicester strung together some key wins and - long story short - lifted the trophy and secured promotion. It was probably tighter than it should have been considering Leicester's wage bill compared to the rest of the Championship. To quote a popular Leicester City fan podcast, “The tea lady could have won the league with this squad and somehow Enzo managed to almost cock it up.” Shortly after the season wrapped, Maresca bid adieu to the Foxes and is now Chelsea-bound. In doing so, a manager who never really ingratiated himself to LCFC won't be welcomed back to the King Power any time soon.
More 23/24 Fantasy Flashbacks: Arsenal | Aston Villa | Bournemouth | Brentford | Brighton | Chelsea | Crystal Palace | Everton | Fulham | Ipswich Town | Leicester City | Liverpool | Man City | Man United | Newcastle | Nottingham Forest | Southampton | Tottenham | West Ham | Wolves
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