Leeds United's situation phenomenal at halfway stage and every chance at Leicester City - David Prutton

Vardy is out with hernia issues but it still won’t be an easy game for Leeds by any stretch of the imagination.

What Leicester have done so far this season has to be really applauded in terms of what boss Brendan Rodgers has done with the team that he has built and the players that he has developed and brought through and added to.

He is doing a fantastic job and Leicester’s success story is something Leeds can possibly look at.

I understand that Leeds’ fans will back themselves to be as big and successful and do it in their own type of way.

But if you look at Leicester with regards to firstly getting back into the Premier League and then winning it and being a team that is well established, they are a great example for Leeds to follow.

Leeds lost 4-1 against Leicester at Elland Road in November and that was a bizarre game that got away from them very quickly.

Pablo Hernandez hit the bar and Leicester then went down the other end soon after and scored and by the end of it they ran out deserved winners so that is something Leeds have got to be very mindful of.

But Leeds will probably play in the same attacking way because that’s what Leeds do – this is what we do and if you don’t like it, do one.

There is a lot to be admired about that but also on the flip side that can be very tough to do against a Leicester side, that can cause you so many problems.

In that sense, tomorrow’s game will be very telling as in; do they come up against this team and learn their lessons of what has gone before? We shall soon see.

Ayoze Perez has been playing up front in Vardy’s absence and he is absolutely not Vardy.

He doesn’t exert the same physical threat but he is still a very serviceable and good footballer. I don’t think it is as straightforward as ‘no Vardy therefore it is going to be easy’.

It’s just going to be fundamentally different.

His absence does change the dynamic of what Leicester can pose as a threat but my word there is a list of players there that would cause any team in the Premier League problems so that is what Leeds have got to be very wary of.

James Maddison has been making the headlines with his form and he is a fantastic footballer.

He is the kind of proponent of the game that we would all like to play and would all like to be a part of, but only a very small percentage of us can actually do that.

Everybody has also been waxing lyrical about his interviewing skills.

I don’t know whether we collectively as footballers have set the benchmark that low that the minute someone says something vaguely interesting people go ‘blimey, he can talk’.

There are a lot of lads in the game that are very good conversationalists.

But Maddison is developing, growing and maturing into what seemingly looks like a player and a person that could be part of the Premier League furniture for a very long time.

Maddison will be a very big test for Kalvin Phillips and the two of them have already come together in the England squad.

It does feel like Phillips would be the one doing the marshalling job on him and when Phillips is at his best in the Leeds side there is no better person to do that.

Leeds approach the game following Tuesday evening’s 2-1 win at Newcastle United which has put them 13 points clear of the drop zone at the halfway stage of the season. That’s phenomenal.

I read comments from Patrick Bamford saying that his former team-mate and Newcastle captain Jamaal Lascelles had felt his side should have won the game.

But after 90 plus minutes who cares?

Whether the win was fully justified or not, Leeds have dominated football matches where they haven’t got anything from them so that’s how you balance that out.

It’s nice to be able to play the way head coach Marcelo Bielsa wants to play and come away with three points and not concede et cetera.

But to come away with three points after the recent fallow period is the most important part of the equation.

https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/simon-grayson-reflects-leeds-united-boost-leicester-city-clash-and-identifies-key-battle-between-whites-and-foxes-3116784

https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/yorkshire-evening-post-launch-leeds-united-only-digital-subscription-ahead-premier-league-campaign-2967964

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Thank you Laura Collins