How did Leicester do this season? 2021/22 FPL review
With the Premier League season over, it’s time to assess each of the 20 teams one-by-one. So here is Leicester’s FPL review of 2021/22.
Brendan Rodgers’ side ended last season and began this one with trophies via the FA Cup and Community Shield. It was always going to be difficult to maintain those levels but a deep run to the Europa Conference League semi-finals sits well alongside an eight-placed league finish.
It was the first summer since winning the league where a major player hadn’t been sold. A sequence of N’Golo Kante, Danny Drinkwater, Riyad Mahrez, Harry Maguire and Ben Chilwell ended here, such is the ambition of Leicester City.
Highlights of this campaign included home wins over Liverpool and Man United.
FPL review
There are a few interesting notes for the Foxes’ underlying stats. Firstly, according to expected goals (xG) data, no team has overachieved more when it comes to goals. They netted 62 but with an xG of just 52.57.
Secondly, their defence is consistently being labelled the fourth-worst. That’s because only three teams conceded more shots and expected goals. Seven clean sheets are also fourth-worst.
Finally, Jamie Vardy ranked as the number one forward for points per start (5.9). To see him end the campaign with 15 goals, despite hamstring and knee injuries ensuring he only started once between Gameweeks 22 and 36, is very impressive. Upon his return, he produced five goals and an assist during the final four matches.
Best FPL asset
Vardy’s lack of game time means that Leicester’s best FPL asset must be James Maddison. A slow start to the season saw him drop from £7.0m to £6.6m but everything from that point has been sensational.
Nine goals and nine assists from his last 20 matches, climaxing with double-digit hauls in each of the final three. So only four players ended with more attacking returns than his 23.
Biggest FPL disappointment
It turns out that Harvey Barnes actually ended the season with good numbers. But, for a long time, he felt like a disappointment. Over 916,000 managers started with Barnes in Gameweek 1 but he’d dropped £0.5m in price by Gameweek 11 after picking up just one assist.
From then, returns arrived at a decent rate but his minutes were inconsistent due to Leicester’s European run. The final 22 league games only brought 11 starts for Barnes, completely ruining his FPL potential.
Yet, adding to the frustration, only two players ended up topping his brilliant return of 12 assists. Perhaps a lack of continental football next season could ensure more starts and therefore more appeal.
Looking ahead to next season
Rodgers has spoken several times about his squad needing a shake-up this summer. Youri Tielemans is expected to leave, with Boubakary Soumare and Jannik Vestergaard offloaded too.
Their defence certainly needs organising, as Leicester join Aston Villa, West Ham and Newcastle in their attempts to push into the top six. Expect a Maddison price rise from £7.0m to possibly around £8.0m.
Check out our other season reviews, as well as regular summer round-ups of FPL news and gossip.
