Leicester City face Brighton on Sunday and fans could see their team adopt a new tactical approach.
The Foxes head into the game knowing it’ll be pretty hard to get anything against a Brighton side who are currently just behind Manchester City in the league table.
Ruud van Nistelrooy saw Leicester City beat West Ham United 3-1 in their last outing but the Hammers, like his team, are in pretty poor form this season and could make a managerial change of their own pretty soon.
As a result, fans are probably not likely to see the dominant display we witnessed from the Foxes in midweek.
Ahead of the tie, Paul Merson has predicted Leicester to lose to Brighton, while a few big stars are set to miss the clash.
Facundo Buonanotte will miss out against his parent club, greatly weakening Leicester’s forward line.
This will surely put a lot more pressure on the Midlands outfit’s backline, which really isn’t ideal.
West Ham United's Spanish manager Julen Lopetegui (R) reacts next to Leicester City's Dutch manager Ruud van Nistelrooy during the English Premier ...
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Ruud van Nistelrooy hints at Leicester City tactical change vs Brighton
So far this season, Leicester have conceded 28 goals in 14 Premier League matches and kept just one clean sheet
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Only 19th-place Wolverhampton Wanderers (36) and 20th-place Southampton (30) have conceded more.
While fixing such a bad defensive record is not going to be easy, when speaking to the media on Friday, Van Nistlerooy hinted his team could start switching to a 4-4-2 formation more regularly as they are more solid in that system, as per Leicestershire Live.
He said: “There’s attempts and there’s chances. Thank God there weren’t 30 chances [vs West Ham]. Some of the attempts weren’t chances. The expected goals was three for West Ham and we have to look at that.
“A blocked shot from a tight angle, we don’t have to look at that. We do better when we are in shape with a back four and two midfielders, a 4-4-2 formation. Sometimes we have to adjust with following the man.”
Leicester City Manager Ruud van Nistelrooy during the Leicester City Training Session and press conference at Seagrave Training Complex on December...
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What Leicester City fans may have missed from Ruud van Nistelrooy before Brighton
Elsewhere in his press conference, the 48-year-old discussed a number of other topics fans may find interesting.
Van Nistelrooy provided a Leicester transfer update ahead of January that supporters will be excited by.
The manager also confirmed the club have no fresh injury concerns going into Sunday’s match.
He said: “No. The squad from Tuesday was available today to train. There’s tomorrow’s session.
“Odsonne is back on the pitch, so that’s an addition to Tuesday’s squad. Harry was outside with the physios, training separately.”
Ruud was also quick to heap praise on Patson Daka after he scored in the win over the Hammers.
He said: “Exactly what he showed. You saw his quality. Two, actually. Pressing off the ball with intensity and that makes it easier for people behind him to follow up and get into duels.
“But also in the goal he scored, with the pace has. He can time runs behind defences and hurts them.”
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