Leicester City 3 - 0 Burnley: Player Ratings - Slimani steals the show
LEICESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 17: Islam Slimani of Leicester City (L) and Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City celebrate after Ben Mee of Burnley scores a own goal during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Burnley at The King Power Stadium on September 17, 2016 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
This afternoon saw Premier League champions Leicester City thrash newly promoted Burnley 3 – 0 at the King Power Stadium.
The win see’s the Leicester City rise to 9th in the table and just 3 points behind the top 4 after the 5th round of fixtures.
The win saw Islam Slimani being given his Premier League debut and it’s safe to say that he wasn’t caught up in the occasion.
The Algerian netted himself 2 goals, both from headers, however he wasn’t the only superstar Algerian on the pitch.
PFA ‘Player of The Year’ Riyad Mahrez turned it on today following his two midweek goals in the Champions League.
Mahrez, who has had a shaky start to the season has started to do what he does best again, running at defences.
His quick feet bought the foxes’ third goal of the afternoon as his low powerful cross was tucked away by Ben Mee into his own net.
Leicester City aren’t a two man team however, so let’s see how the rest of the squad fared.
LEICESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 17: Sam Vokes of Burnley heads the ball while under pressure from Wes Morgan of Leicester City during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Burnley at The King Power Stadium on September 17, 2016 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Defence
Zieler: 6/10
The towering German received his first full Premier League debut this afternoon following Kasper Schmeichel’s concussion.
Without much to do it’s tough to give Ron-Robert a high rating, however when called upon he did his job more than adequately.
Danny Simpson: 7/10
A quiet game for the right-back who missed out on Champions League football on Wednesday.
Regular watchers of Leicester City will be well aware of Simpson’s role in the team. To defend. Going forward he provides very few overlaps for Riyad Mahrez who quite frankly, doesn’t need them.
When called upon to break up counter attacks down Burnley’s left flank he did the job superbly despite the breaks being few and far between.
Wes Morgan: 7/10
As always the Leicester captain commanded his back line as you’d expect of any title winning captain.
Always a menace in the opposition box, Morgan looked dangerous when heading up for corner kicks and freekicks.
Again, with little to do it’s tough to give Morgan and co a high rating but as always, he was solid at the back and kept his clean sheet.
Huth: 7/10
Like his captain, the giant German was a towering presence going forward for set-pieces.
When called upon to defend today, the not so elegant centre-back cleared any danger without putting his team under pressure.
Like his defensive counterpart, it’s hard to give Huth a rating of anything over 7 due to his lack of work, however a clean sheet is a clean sheet.
Fuchs: 8/10
Unlike Danny Simpson, Fuchs not only defends but also provides back up for Marc Albrighton on the left flank.
A brilliant performance today saw Christian grab himself an assist after his set-piece found Islam Slimani’s head.
His link-up play with Albrighton this afternoon was sublime at times and as such, Fuchs receives the highest rating out of his backlin. Well deserved.
LEICESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 17: Daniel Drinkwater of Leicester City and Jeff Hendrick of Burnley battle for possession during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Burnley at The King Power Stadium on September 17, 2016 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Midfield
Mahrez: 8/10
The PFA ‘Player of The Year’ reminded us today of why he was awarded the prestigious award.
His forward runs towards defenders and quick feet dazzled the opposition as well as his link-up play with his team-mates.
Unlucky to grab himself a goal after his header flew just wide in the opening half, the Algerian superstar had a hand in Leicester’s third.
His hard, low cross caused Ben Mee to put the ball into his own net which put the foxes out of sight and 3 – 0 up.
Drinkwater: 7/10
He wasn’t the threat that we usually see him as going forward but he ran the show as always.
His creativity is perhaps overshadowed by Mahrez and Albrighton however he keeps the team ticking as he pulls the strings from midfield.
As Leicester used the width of the pitch more than usual due to a tightly packed Burnley defence we saw less of Danny than usual.
Amartey: 6/10
A relatively average performance from Daniel this week see’s him score just 6/10.
His average performance however isn’t his fault, he simply didn’t have that much to do.
Amartey’s main job in this Leicester City side is to break up counter-attacks, to be everywhere at once and protect the back 4.
As Burnley were essentially non-existent going forward, Amartey found himself with little work to do.
Albrighton: 8/10
A key performer this week and as always his right-foot swung in some of the best crosses the King Power has ever seen.
It wasn’t only his crossing this week that has made him such an important player in the victory.
His link-up play down the left with Fuchs and Vardy made them almost unstoppable. An underrated side to Marc’s game.
LEICESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 17: Islam Slimani of Leicester City scores his sides first goal during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Burnley at The King Power Stadium on September 17, 2016 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Strikers
Vardy: 7/10
Jamie Vardy has had a tough start to the season so far despite scoring 2 goals in 5 games.
His link-up play today with Slimani was fantastic considering this afternoon’s fixture is only the second time they’ve played together.
His role changed today as usually he’s the main threat going forward, being partnered with Shinji Okazaki.
Today he played almost as a playmaker for Slimani, which worked very well however Vardy will be disappointed that he didn’t get on the scoresheet.
Slimani: 9/10
A dream start from the Algerian in the Premier League.
He bought the Slimani Show to the King Power today as ‘Super Slim’ bagged himself 2 goals on his Premier League debut.
The pressure was on for the Algerian as he had a relatively tame game midweek against Brugge after being substituted at the hour mark.
The club record signing will be looking to get on the scoresheet again next week as the foxes face giants Chelsea where he’ll be up against Gary Cahill and David Luiz, along with former fox N’Golo Kante, a physical battle that Slimani will love.
LEICESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 17: Claudio Ranieri, Manager of Leicester City gives his team instructions while they have a water break during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Burnley at The King Power Stadium on September 17, 2016 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Substitutes
King: 6/10
An average performance from club veteran and legend Andy King.
After replacing Danny Drinkwater in midfield he failed to put his mark on the game, something that is tough when coming in with 20 minutes to go.
Gray: 6/10
Coming on in the 85th minute, Gray had very little time to express himself and big shoes to fill as he replaced Riyad Mahrez.
Due to the pressure Burnley put on Leicester in the final minutes, Gray saw little of the ball however his work-rate was up to scratch as always from the youngster.
Hamer: N/A
Hernandez: N/A
Musa: N/A
Okazaki: N/A
Ulloa: N/A
More from Foxes of Leicester
This article originally appeared on 
