Rodgers must restore Soyuncu vs Saints
Brendan Rodgers can welcome defender Caglar Soyuncu back to the Leicester City fray ahead of the Foxes’ FA Cup semi-final showdown with Southampton.
The Turkish defender has missed the last two Premier League matches having tested positive whilst on international duty, both games the Foxes lost to Manchester City and West Ham United.
Will Leicester reach the FA Cup final?
Yes, they’ve got it in the bag.
No, they will just fall short.
However, with the former SC Freiburg centre-back looking “terrific” in training according to Foxes boss Rodgers, he should be restored immediately to the Leicester backline against the Saints at Wembley.
Put simply, Soyuncu is one of Leicester’s best defenders and should not be elbowed out of the starting line-up in place of Daniel Amartey, who has been deputising in the Turk’s absence.
According to WhoScored, the two defenders are actually level on both tackles and interceptions per game in the Premier League at 0.9 and one respectively.
Nevertheless, Soyuncu, who earns £45k per week at the King Power Stadium, excels in anticipating danger by racking up 3.7 clearances per game compared to Amartey’s two.
Meanwhile, the Turk continues to better his Ghanaian teammate on the ball, where he possesses far more confidence. The 24-year-old has a better pass success rate, whilst completing more passes per game than Amartey and also contributing a surprise 0.2 key passes.
Whilst it is clear to see that Soyuncu is a far more accomplished defender, his inclusion also produces tangible results.
In matches where the centre-back has played this season, Leicester have conceded just 0.96 goals per game in all competitions but with him excluded, that number shoots up sharply to 1.14.
As Leicester aim to restrict Southampton at Wembley and reach the FA Cup final, that added defensive solidarity is surely going to come in mightily handy.
Therefore, it seems an obvious choice for Rodgers to recall Soyuncu into the Leicester starting line-up for Sunday’s clash.
AND in more news, take a look at the huge error that Leicester made in the transfer market last summer…