Premier League Team of the Week XXV feat. Leicester City and Everton stars

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N’Golo Kanté: The difference between the attitude on display between Leicester City and Manchester City was demonstrated in the opening minutes when Kanté showed significantly more desire than the lumbering Yaya Touré to win a 50-50 battle. The stand-in captain for the day was frequently caught out by the Frenchman when breaking from deep-lying positions, as Touré could simply not deal with Kanté’s boundless energy. It was this sort of impact on the game which was so pivotal in Leicester’s second goal as; after pouncing on a loose ball in midfield, Kanté drove forward, committed defenders, and then fed Riyad Mahrez, allowing the Algerian trickster to do what he has done on so many occasions this season already this campaign.

David Silva; Manchester City’s creator-in-chief, was almost completely anonymous on the afternoon and was sacrificed during the second half. N’Golo Kanté’s influence could be felt all across the pitch as he made eight tackles and five interceptions to break up play, but also beat an opponent in sky blue on four occasions, showing how rounded the midfielder’s game really is.

Danny Drinkwater: Yet another Leicester City player makes it into The Boot Room’s line-up for the Premier League Team of the week, but you would find it difficult to argue with Danny Drinkwater’s inclusion. The midfield pairing of Drinkwater and Kanté is not one that necessarily stands out on paper, but they are possibly one of the hardest working duos in recent memory. Drinkwater was very disciplined in ensuring his part of The Foxes’ defensive structure was well placed, but frequently capitalised on the opportunity to counter-attack, carrying the ball forward over vast distances from the edge of one box to the other. Early on for example, Drinkwater broke up an attack, fed a team-mate and just set off at a rate of knots. He overtook Mahrez to provide the Algerian with an overlapping option and but for Joe Hart’s awareness, he could have put Leicester 2-0 up with only a few minutes on the clock. Pellegrini’s men did not heed this early warning however, with similar instances to this one happening throughout the game.

Not only did Danny Drinkwater involve himself in Leicester’s breaks that involved several of their players, he also looked to release Jamie Vardy in behind at every possible opportunity. The midfielder’s first instinct was to find the prolific front-man and such has been The Foxes’ success this Premier League campaign, Drinkwater appeared to instantly be aware of where the forward would be and what run he would be making. Two chances of note came about as a result of this, and you know that the same pattern will be repeated between now and the end of the season.

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Ross Barkley: The Everton youngster was involved in everything positive for his side on the day. He was a central figure in their build-up play and was frequently the man they looked for to provide the incisive pass at the right moment. At the outset of the free-flowing move which resulted in The Toffees winning a penalty, a Ross Barkley flick was the moment which created the space and time for others. There were several other examples of this kind of play which; although some may feel otherwise, should not be classed as ‘showboating’ in my book. Barkley may have been guilty of it in the past but now, his terrific touch and awareness are being employed in the right areas of the pitch where they can cause the most damage. Another example could be seen when the deftest of touches with his heel set Arouna Koné away on goal and the Ivorian should have done better with the opportunity.

Ross Barkley exhibited some more great link-up play with Romelu Lukaku and had the England man’s finishing been completely up to scratch, he could have found himself with a couple of goals to top off a fine day’s work. Overall, the youngster created two chances and beat his man three times and although he failed to get on the score-sheet, his impact on Martinez’s side’s success was as clear as ever.