Wilfred Ndidi is flourishing as an attacking midfielder

Last season, questions were asked as to the rationale of former Leicester boss, Enzo Maresca. His decision to convert Wilfred Ndidi into an attacking midfielder from his previous role as one of the most destructive defensive midfielders in English football was a bold one.

However, new Leicester boss, Steve Cooper, has gone even further still by establishing Ndidi as an effective number ten behind the striker. That’s despite the Foxes dropping £20m on Moroccan ace, Bilal El Khannouss, and the loan signing of Brighton’s Argentine starlet, Facundo Buonanotte.

New contract, new position for Ndidi

It marks a stunning turnaround in Ndidi’s Leicester career. The Nigerian ace looked set to leave the Foxes in the summer, but opted to put pen to paper on a new contract at the King Power Stadium.

His remit now is to help City re-establish themselves in the Premier League, but that won’t be straightforward. Despite keeping themselves free of the drop zone so far this term, the Foxes remain one of the favourites for relegation. They are priced as 1.70 third favourites for the drop with Betano, one of the leading operators licensed for sports betting online in Nigeria.

There’s no doubt that having Ndidi in their side will help Leicester in their survival cause, whichever midfield position he’s selected in. As a tough-tackling, defensive midfielder, Ndidi is up there with the best in the Premier League. In fact, since Ndidi made his debut for the Foxes, no other Premier League midfielder has come even close to registering the same number of total tackles (704) as Ndidi. Declan Rice is in second place behind Ndidi with 152 fewer total tackles. Rice had played almost 50 games more than Ndidi in the Premier League too.

He's also leading the way for successful interceptions (393). When you put all of the above together, it makes for a strong case to keep Ndidi as Leicester’s number six. So why have Maresca and Cooper opted to push him further forward?

Ndidi can help to lead Leicester’s pressing structure

The main reason being is to deploy Ndidi as the Foxes’ lead of their front-foot press. Ndidi is one of the best pressers in the Leicester team, with his intensity and stamina proving hard for opposition defences to handle. The theory being that the other team can’t hurt the Leicester backline if the likes of Ndidi and Jamie Vardy can keep them penned into their own half.

After nine 2024/25 Premier League games, Ndidi has already registered four assists. He’s currently averaging 0.8 shots per game and 0.8 key passes per game.

Leicester need Ndidi to maintain this level of form if the Foxes are to stay clear of the bottom three. After back-to-back league victories over Bournemouth and Southampton, City followed that up with a disappointing home defeat to East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest. They were also soundly beaten 5-2 in their EFL Cup tie at Manchester United.

There are one or two worrying signs across the rest of the Leicester squad, not least in the final third. Looking at City’s xG data, they were overperforming their real xG by at least one goal in open play and almost two goals from set pieces.

Even more worryingly, Leicester have conceded 14 goals from open play, but their xGA for open play means they should’ve conceded at least two more goals. It gets all the more alarming from corner kicks, with their xGA as high as six goals, compared with the solitary goal conceded from flag kicks. If this data reverts to the mean, it’s likely that Leicester will start to ship even more goals, heaping further pressure on the likes of Ndidi to create in the final third.

Fans of the Super Eagles will be hoping Ndidi’s decision to remain loyal to Leicester doesn’t backfire, resulting in an immediate return to second-tier English football.
 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit: lcfc.com