Leicester City’s manager, Dean Smith, has given details about his decision to bench both James Maddison and Harvey Barnes for the team’s penultimate match in the Premier League season against Newcastle. Despite being three points away from safety, the Foxes hope to secure a win without two of their star players.
In their last 14 games, Leicester City won only once against Wolves while neither Maddison nor Barnes was in the starting lineup. Fans were surprised when both players were named substitutes for the game against Newcastle.
For this match, Smith changed the team’s formation to a 5-3-2 shape, with Kelechi Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy leading the attack, and Wilfried Ndidi, Youri Tielemans, and Boubakary Soumare in midfield. Timothy Castagne, Harry Souttar, Jonny Evans, Wout Faes, and Luke Thomas formed the defending five players attempting to keep Newcastle at bay. A victory at St. James’ Park will put the Foxes in a better position before their final match of the season against West Ham.
Before the match commenced, Smith spoke to Sky Sports and revealed the reason for his decision to bench Maddison and Barnes. He said, “We decided to change it. We need to be harder to beat. The last couple of games we have needed goals to win them so we needed to make a change. We picked a team we feel can compete. I had to think long and hard about it. Watching the game against Brighton, the first two goals are from set-pieces and I wanted another centre-back in the team.”