Leicester City couldn’t quite get another win over the line against bottom-of-the-table Sheffield Wednesday, the spirited Owls levelling at the death deservedly via a Jeff Hendrick strike after edging spells of the contest in the second half.
The table toppers did race into an early lead at Hillsborough but never put Danny Rohl’s hosts to the sword on the night after scoring the opener, Abdul Fatawu hammering the ball home after a weaving run from Stephy Mavididi on the opposite flank got the better of Dominic Iorfa before a cross then found the 19-year-old attacker in space to score.
The teenager has been a revelation for Enzo Maresca’s Foxes this season, dazzling Owls defenders all night in a three-pronged attack alongside Mavididi and the ever-reliable Jamie Vardy.
Abdul Fatawu’s game in numbers
Signed by the Foxes in the summer from Sporting CP – labelled as a “fantastic prospect” by football talent scout Jacek Kulig during his time in Portugal – Fatuwu is playing way beyond his years with Leicester currently as a relative unknown in the English game.
Fatuwu’s goal versus the Owls was his second already this season in his new colours, another impressive individual display by the young Ghanaian forward.
Leicester’s brand new number 18 is anything but the finished product, but his raw and exciting ability on the ball was evident against the Owls – firing another two shots at Cameron Dawson’s goal in the game, the efforts in question unfortunately off target, as per Sofascore.
Fatuwu was constantly trying to unlock a stern Wednesday defence even after his early opening strike, successful in two out of his five dribbled attempts on the night with the Owls defenders finding it hard to contain the exuberant winger at points.
Although the 19-year-old was pivotal for Maresca’s title contenders in getting the only goal of the night for the away side, Harry Winks was a joy to watch centrally for the Foxes too in a stylish and confident display from the ex-Tottenham Hotspur man.
Harry Winks’ game in numbers
The 27-year-old has slotted seamlessly into the Leicester set-up this season since leaving north London behind, becoming a crucial figure in the newly formed Foxes team under Maresca.
Completely a staggering 87.9 accurate passes on average so far per game this season, Winks was again near faultless in the centre of the park for the Foxes versus Wednesday.
Harry Winks passing statistics over the last year (sourced by FBRef) |
Passes attempted per 90 – 93.61 |
Pass completion percentage per 90 – 94.8% |
Progressive passes per 90 – 6.33 |
Progressive carries per 90 – 1.71 |
Leicester’s number eight successfully completed 99 of his passes on the turf at Hillsborough, only misplacing three all night. Winks even registered 114 touches on the ball, always attempting to orchestrate attacking moves in the centre of a midfield trio.
It’s no surprise to hear that former Leicester player Ian Baraclough referred to Winks as a “Rolls-Royce type player” therefore when speaking on the When You’re Smiling: A Leicester City Podcast, admiring the £10m summer move to land the 27-year-old and calling the deal an “excellent bit of business.”
The league leaders couldn’t quite break down a resilient Owls defence even in spite of the former Spurs man’s best efforts, Winks even getting stuck into duels up against Wednesday’s star man Barry Bannan to help his team – winning four of his six ground duels attempted.
Winks will aspire to help his team more in the matches to come, eager to break his assists duck for the season whilst a temptation to foray further forward must come into his mind from time to time after an audacious effort against QPR sailed into the back of the net.
The Foxes have a tough away match versus West Brom up next, hoping that they can get back to winning ways quickly facing off against Carlos Corberan’s in-form Baggies with Winks hopefully impressing again.
