Substitute Abdul Fatawu scored a stunning extra-time winner as Bournemouth lost 1-0 at home to Sky Bet Championship leaders Leicester.

Fatawu collected Kelechi Iheanacho’s pass on the edge of the penalty area before bending a powerful left-foot shot into the top corner to send the Foxes into the quarter-finals.

Leicester made nine changes from the side beaten at home by promotion rivals Leeds last week but still showed their Premier League credentials.

Dennis Praet had the game’s first shot on target when he put an overhead-kick tamely into the arms of goalkeeper Mark Travers from Marc Albrighton’s lofted cross.

Arjan Raikhy also fired wide from the edge of the box in the opening minutes.

Bournemouth rested top-scorer Dominic Solanke and handed a full debut to January transfer window signing Enes Unal.

Turkey international Unal caught the eye with an industrious first-half display, although his ninth-minute 30-yard free-kick was a touch ambitious as it flew high and wide.

In the 15th minute, Leicester’s stand-in goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk had to come quickly off his line to beat Unal to Philip Billing’s through ball.

And three minutes later Hamza Choudhury was on hand to clear Unal’s close-range shot off the line.

Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott should have done better after being picked out by Luis Sinisterra’s low cross but he blazed over from midway inside the penalty area.

Leicester continued to pose a threat on the counter-attack and Yunus Akgun should have at least hit the target when he headed wide from another Albrighton centre.

The Foxes had another big let-off 11 minutes before half-time as left-back Milos Kerkez drilled a cross-shot towards the six-yard box but Unal could only stab wide.

Albrighton, one of the few survivors from Leicester’s 2021 FA Cup-winning side, was inches away from firing the Foxes ahead in the 41st minute when his low strike from the edge of the area slammed against a post.

Bournemouth goalkeeper Travers then made an acrobatic save to turn Wanya Marcal’s follow-up effort over the crossbar.

In the final minutes of the half, Stolarczyk made a good reaction save to keep out Sinisterra’s header from a corner before Scott put the rebound wide at the far post.

It was Bournemouth’s turn to be denied by the woodwork five minutes into the second half as Marcos Senesi’s long-range curler beat Stolarczyk before hitting a post.

Stolarczyk was called into action again in the 74th minute to beat away Kerkez’s well-struck near-post effort.

Akgun should have won it four minutes from the end of normal time when he found himself one-on-one with Travers but blazed over.

Just as the game looked to be heading for a penalty shootout, Ghanaian Fatawu won it in the final minute of the first half of extra time.

Leicester manager Enzo Maresca says it will be impossible to keep all of his top players happy this season as he aims to take the club back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

The Italian coach made six changes against Stoke, in what was his side’s third game in six days.

The move paid off as Leicester recorded their sixth successive Championship win that kept them top of the table.

Kelechi Iheanacho opened the scoring after 24 minutes before Jamie Vardy came off the bench to wrap up a 2-0 win.

Vardy had started on Wednesday against Preston, with Iheanacho coming off the bench to score.

“That’s why we try to switch them around,” said Maresca. “The other night against Preston, Kele was probably not happy to be on the bench.

“But he came on and was fantastic.

“Here, Jamie was not happy to be on the bench. But he came on and scored, and was happy.

“To be competitive, you need two players for each position so they can compete between them. In the end, we can choose one of them.

“Here we left out Wout Faes, Stephy Mavididi, Wilfred Ndidi, James Justin and Jamie.

“But they cannot think to play 46 games. It’s impossible.

“At the moment, no human being can play every game at the same level.

“Maybe next time, I’ll make six changes, we’ll lose and I’ll be wrong. But we have to make those decisions.”

Maresca accepted that Stoke had been tough to break down, as have a number of visitors to the King Power Stadium.

“We need to improve a lot because we are going to face these kinds of games many times. But we are going in the right direction,” he added.

Stoke manager Alex Neil had nine players missing through injury.

He said he wanted to take the game to Leicester in the second half, but the home side’s strength in depth was difficult to combat.

“If we’d got to half-time at 0-0, our intention was always to try and have a go,” he said.

“You can see why, when you do that, you don’t come here and go toe to toe with Leicester. Particularly when you haven’t got your strongest squad.

“But we had arguably two of the best chances in the game which fell to Nathan Lowe. He’s disappointed, but I said to him afterwards that I’d be more disappointed if they weren’t falling to him.

“If we had a stronger team, we’d get a better feel of where we are compared to them. We had a young side out.

“The minute we changed, they brought on pace at the top end of the pitch.

“Jamie Vardy’s going to cause you all kinds of problems at this level.

“But our set up was good, I don’t think they really had a chance until their goal. That was disappointing from our perspective as Iheanacho was really wide.”

Neil admitted Leicester’s dominance at this level shows no sign of weakening.

“They’ll be one of the best Championship teams in a long time,” he said.

“Just look at the stadium and the fans, and the players they’ve got. They have four internationals who’ve played for England – I don’t remember that happening anywhere else.”

Kelechi Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy were both on target as Leicester stayed top of the Championship with a 2-0 victory against Stoke at the King Power Stadium.

Iheanacho scored for the third successive game as the dominant Foxes reached the 30-point mark from only 11 games and already have a 10-point cushion to third.

But, once more, Enzo Maresca’s side had to work hard for their victory against stubborn opponents, with injury-hit Stoke providing the league leaders with few chances until the latter stages.

Iheanacho broke the deadlock after 24 minutes but Leicester had to wait until the 79th minute before substitute Vardy netted his fourth league goal of the season from close range.

The result meant the Foxes recorded three home league wins in succession, without conceding, for the first time since April 2017, when Craig Shakespeare was in charge.

Maresca made six changes from Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Preston. That included former Stoke defender Harry Souttar’s first Championship start of the season.

Stoke went into the game missing nine players through injury and their bench contained two goalkeepers and two 16-year-olds.

Stoke made it clear early on that Leicester would have to work hard to break them down.

And the visitors created an early opening of their own when Bae Jun-ho raced to the edge of the area and went down under a challenge from Jannik Vestergaard, but referee Geoff Eltringham dismissed all shouts for a penalty.

Leicester took the lead through Iheanacho’s third goal in as many games.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Ricardo Pereira combined to supply Iheanacho on the left of the Stoke area, and he drove the ball into the far corner before Stoke goalkeeper Mark Travers could react.

Leicester’s command of the game was displayed when the scoreboard showed them having 90 per cent possession at one point.

Stoke had a clear chance to equalise at the start of the second half when Mehdi Leris delivered a cross for Nathan Lowe, but he mistimed his header in front of goal and watched it fly over the bar.

But Leicester almost scored their second goal of the game when Yunus Akgun’s shot from the edge of the area brought an impressive save from Travers.

Leicester eventually extended their lead with substitute Vardy being on the end of an excellent move.

Vardy had only been on the field for three minutes when he was presented with a close-range opportunity after some neat exchanges involving Dewsbury-Hall and Abdul Fatawu before Wilfred Ndidi’s final ball set up the Leicester number nine to score.

Leicester moved back into the top two of the Championship with a hard-fought 2-0 win at Norwich.

The Canaries had won all three of their previous games at Carrow Road this season and proved to be spirited opponents on a miserable evening in Norfolk.

But the visitors turned in a disciplined display to take all three points, with a Kelechi Iheanacho penalty on the stroke of half-time and a late tap-in from Kasey McAteer securing a sixth win in seven games for Enzo Maresca’s men.

A dull first half sprung to life in the dying minutes, with Leicester edging in front from the penalty spot.

Dangerman Stephy Mavididi set up the opener by bursting clear down the left flank and racing into the area, where his progress was halted by a shove in the back from Christian Fassnacht.

Referee Graham Scott pointed straight to the spot and Iheanacho did the rest, with Angus Gunn unable to keep out his well struck penalty despite getting a hand to it.

Moments later Mavididi was through again and this time he managed to get in a shot himself, with a curling effort drifting just wide of the far post.

Earlier both sides had struggled to create openings as they sought to build patiently from the back.

Fassnacht had a couple of shots for the Canaries, the latter drawing a comfortable save from Mads Hermansen, while defender Wout Faes went close with a pair of headers for the Foxes.

Despite losing striker Ashley Barnes to injury Norwich looked the side more likely to score early in the second period, although they again struggled to create decent openings.

The visitors seemed content to sit back and rely on the occasional counter-attack, with Gunn seeing precious little action.

Norwich continued to press and almost drew level in the 71st minute when it needed a superb reaction save from Hermansen to keep out a close-range header from Shane Duffy, who was picked out by a pinpoint cross from substitute Onel Hernandez.

They came even closer a few minutes later when Kenny McLean shipped an effort against the underside of the bar following a poor clearance from the otherwise excellent keeper.

It was all Norwich now, with Gabriel Sara brushing the side-netting with a 25-yard free-kick, although McAteer should have sealed it for the Foxes with a free header at the back post.

McAteer made up for that glaring miss by wrapping up the points for Leicester in the 87th minute.

A slick move ended with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall one on one with Gunn and instead of shooting the substitute squared for his unmarked colleague to side-foot home into an empty net.

Manchester United's hopes of finishing in the Premier League top four were further dented as they were held 1-1 by Leicester City, who were denied a winner by VAR.

United were without Cristiano Ronaldo due to illness and Ralf Rangnick's decision to go without a recognised striker did not pay off for large parts of Saturday's contest at Old Trafford.

The hosts found themselves behind when former Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho headed in from a James Maddison cross, but Fred levelled just three minutes later.

Maddison thought he had struck a winner 10 minutes from time, though it was ruled out for an Iheanacho foul on Raphael Varane in the build-up, following the intervention of VAR.

Harvey Barnes was wayward on a few occasions in an underwhelming first half that saw United go closest to scoring when Kasper Schmeichel stretched out a leg to deny Bruno Fernandes.

Rangnick held off from changing things too drastically until introducing Marcus Rashford for Scott McTominay with 55 minutes played, coinciding with the game sparking into life.

Leicester opened the scoring when Iheanacho got in front of substitute Alex Telles and guided in Maddison's delivery.

United's response was a quick one, with Fred lashing into the roof of the net after Schmeichel helped Fernandes' powerful drive into the midfielder's path.

Leicester thought they had won it when Maddison beat David de Gea at his front post, only for VAR to adjudge Iheanacho had kicked Varane's leg from under him.

United came close to making their good fortune count, but Jadon Sancho snatched at a chance before James Justin denied Rashford a stoppage-time tap-in.

Nigeria were deserved 1-0 winners in their heavyweight Group D opener with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations, with Mohamed Salah unable to inspire the record seven-time champions.

Carlos Queiroz's side were second best for virtually the entire game but especially the first half, when they found themselves trailing to Kelechi Iheanacho's wonderstrike.

The Leicester City striker was afforded time to take a touch just inside the box, but there was little Mohamed El-Shenawy could do about the finish as Iheanacho rifled into the top-right corner as the ball sat up nicely for him.

The lively Taiwo Awoniyi thought he had made it 2-0 early in the second half, but his header was adjudged to have been saved right on the line.

A poor touch then robbed Iheanacho of the chance to slot into an empty net, before the quiet Salah was crowded out just in time as he got a feeble shot away in a rare sighting of goal for Egypt.

Egypt will now be playing catch-up on matchday two as they face Guinea-Bissau. Nigeria could potentially secure passage to the knockouts against Sudan.

 

Premier League managers are already feeling the strain amid cascading numbers of COVID-19 cases and mid-season injuries. Now many top bosses stand to lose stars to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Africa's greatest football show – now commonly known as AFCON – gets under way on Sunday in Cameroon.

Although the 2019 edition was held in June and July, it has historically been a January-into-February tournament and has returned to that place on the calendar.

A host of Premier League big names are hoping to make an impact during the four-week tournament, which falls slap-bang in the middle of European club campaigns, causing a major clash of competitions.

Premier League clubs certainly cannot complain of a lack of fair warning. It was June 2020 when African football chiefs decided the 2021 edition of the tournament would have to be pushed back by 12 months to a January 2022 start, in the hope the coronavirus crisis would have eased.

Here, Stats Perform takes a look at which teams from the English top flight might feel its impact the most.

Can Reds cling on in title battle?

If Liverpool lose no further ground on leaders Manchester City by the time their stars return from AFCON, then Jurgen Klopp would surely settle for that.

The 2019-20 Premier League champions have taken two points from a possible nine to leave the title as effectively City's to lose, and now Klopp is going to have to get by without Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita.

Egyptian striker Salah is the Premier League's leader in goals (16) and assists (9, level with Trent Alexander Arnold) so far this season. He has taken 80 shots in 20 games (38 of these have hit the target), played 12 throughballs and created 40 chances from open play: in each of those categories he is at the top of the Premier League charts for players defined by Opta as forwards.

How do you cope without such a contribution? Having Mane on hand would help, but Mane will be turning out for Senegal, a team who, like Salah's Egypt, are firmly in the mix as serious trophy contenders. Don't expect either back at the end of the group stage.

Mane has eight Premier League goals this term, including the opener at Chelsea recently. That goal return puts Mane joint-second among African scorers in the Premier League this season, level with Watford's Emmanuel Dennis, who is not in Nigeria's squad.

Mane has played 19 throughballs and has made 23 tackles to boot, which is the seventh highest number of tackles by a forward in the league this season, a rarely mentioned attribute of his game. He does not always tackle with his elbow, either.

Keita will presumably be less of a miss, with the Guinean's Anfield contribution remaining underwhelming, but Liverpool have been so hard hit by absentees recently that to lose anybody for up to five weeks is an inconvenience.

They are at least assured of Joel Matip's presence this month. The centre-back last played for Cameroon in 2015 and has retired from international duty. That is bad news for the AFCON hosts but helps Liverpool, given Matip remains a sturdy presence, with a duel success of 69.47 per cent this season ranking him third among Premier League defenders with 10 or more appearances, and a passing accuracy of 88.89 per cent putting him eighth in that metric.

Liverpool only have two league games inked in between now and the end of AFCON, against Brentford and Crystal Palace, but the Reds also have two postponed fixtures to be slipped in somewhere along the line.

Wintertime Blues?

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City hold a 10-point lead over second-placed Chelsea, with Liverpool a point further back but possessing a game in hand on the top two. Reigning champions City have won 11 straight Premier League games and the Citizens have the resources to be able to cope with the short-term loss of Riyad Mahrez, who will captain Algeria.

Mahrez's six goals and four assists this season have come at a startling rate. Given the depth in City's squad, he does not always start, so to appreciate his contribution it is worth looking at his numbers per 90 minutes on the pitch.

The former Leicester City forward is averaging 0.64 goals and 0.43 assists per 90 minutes – impressively close to Salah's return of 0.81 and 0.45 in those categories – and is one of only four Premier League players with 10 or more appearances to average at least 1.00 goal involvements per 90 (Michael Olise 1.43, Salah 1.26, Roberto Firmino 1.24, Mahrez 1.07).

The Blues of Chelsea may have concerns over the absence of goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, given the Senegalese's stabilising influence at the back. His save percentage of 77.14 has only been beaten this season in the league by Wolves' Jose Sa (80.82) and Arsenal's Aaron Ramsdale (77.46).

Spaniard Kepa Arrizabalaga struggled in the early stages of his Chelsea career and is now the undoubted understudy.

Yet Kepa's form when given an opportunity this season has not given such cause for concern. The former Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper has been chiefly used in cup action, and he has achieved a remarkable save percentage of 81.48, suggesting that for a short run of games, he could be a perfectly able deputy.

Can an exodus to Africa affect the race for Europe?

Will fourth-placed Arsenal miss Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang? It seems unlikely now, given he was dropped and stripped of the captaincy after a disciplinary breach before heading off to join Gabon. He has not played for a month. The Gunners won five games in a row without him, including four in the league, before being unlucky to lose to Manchester City.

Cold facts tell us Arsenal have a points average of 1.9 per Premier League game when Aubameyang has started games this season, and 1.5 when he has been either a substitute or out of the team, but those figures may not be significant given the momentum Mikel Arteta's players have built in the recent absence of the 32-year-old. His continuing exile from the first team seems unlikely to cause much consternation.

For manager Arteta to lose Thomas Partey (Ghana) at this point is a blow though, with the former Atletico Madrid player having been excellent in the 2-1 defeat to City, having been slowly building up to such a performance. He had more touches, won more duels, made more tackles and played more successful passes than any other Arsenal player.

Arsenal have a big derby at Tottenham coming up on January 16, and they might feel Partey's absence that day, particularly given Spurs, who currently sit sixth, are sending no current first-teamers away to AFCON.

Splitting the north London rivals for now are West Ham, in fifth, and it will surely have hurt David Moyes to wave off Said Benrahma for a month of Algeria duty. The playmaker has five goals and four assists in the league this season, as well as making 83 ball recoveries and creating 21 chances in open play. That makes him one of only 13 players in the competition to top both 80 recoveries and 20 open-play chances created, and one of only five Premier League stars to tick both boxes and score at least five times. Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha, away with Ivory Coast, is another member of that small group.

Seventh-placed Manchester United will lose Eric Bailly to Ivory Coast too. But with Phil Jones back in the first team, will Bailly be missed? The former Villarreal centre-back has played just 217 minutes in the Premier League this season. United youth prospect Hannibal Mejbri is also away, in his case with Tunisia.

Further into mid-table, Wolves must find an alternative to the excellent Romain Saiss (tackle success rate 72.73 per cent) on the left side of their defence, after he joined up with Morocco. Brighton and Hove Albion powerhouse Yves Bissouma has the highest tackle success rate among midfielders to have made more than 40 such challenges in the Premier League this season (50 attempted, 35 won: 70 per cent hit rate) and he will line up for Mali after ending an international exile.

Leicester City sent away striker Kelechi Iheanacho (2 goals, 4 assists this season) for Nigeria service at a bad time for the Foxes, given injured Jamie Vardy faces several weeks out of action.

Palace are firmly in favour of players heading away to represent their countries, but the Eagles never particularly like to be without Zaha (5 goals, 1 assist, 86 dribbles). Since his return from Manchester United in August 2014, Palace have averaged 1.2 points and a 32.9 per cent win percentage with Zaha in their starting line-up, and 0.9 points and a 24.5 win percentage when he has not been in that matchday XI. The loss of Cheikhou Kouyate (80.56 per cent success rate from 36 tackles) to Senegal duty may also diminish the sturdiness of Patrick Vieira's Eagles spine.

Can Clarets cope without Cornet?

The relegation scrap seems more likely to be affected by transfer market activity than departures to AFCON.

Newcastle United and Norwich City, the league's bottom two, are sending nobody away, while fourth-bottom Watford have kept Dennis (8 goals, 5 assists) and it remains to be seen what happens to Ismaila Sarr (5 goals), who has been absent with injury of late but has headed for checks with Senegal doctors.

Burnley, who sit 18th, are seemingly the team to watch carefully here. Maxwel Cornet, now away with Ivory Coast, has scored six Premier League goals from just 10 shots on target, and Sean Dyche must find a way to make the Clarets impactful without the former Lyon man.

Manchester City survived a spirited Leicester City fightback to prevail 6-3 winners in a thrilling Boxing Day encounter at the Etihad Stadium.

Though pegged back to 4-3 from 4-0 up, Pep Guardiola's men moved six points clear at the top of the Premier League table following a ninth successive victory.

Kevin De Bruyne scored the first of four goals for the hosts inside the opening 25 minutes, while a pair of penalties from Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling sandwiched Ilkay Gundogan's strike.

The Foxes came roaring back after the break as James Maddison, Ademola Lookman and Kelechi Iheanacho threatened the most unlikely comeback, but Aymeric Laporte and Sterling got the Citizens back on track and secured the points.

Man City took the lead in the fifth minute following neat interplay as De Bruyne controlled Fernandinho’s lofted pass into the box before sweeping past Kasper Schmeichel.

The hosts doubled the advantage with Mahrez, who had lost in all five of his previous Premier League appearances on Boxing Day, firing home from 12 yards after Youri Tielemans bundled over Laporte.

Gundogan made it 3-0 after another lovely exchange of passes culminated in Schmeichel parrying Joao Cancelo's low cross straight to the Germany international, who made no mistake from close range.

Three became four soon after, with Tielemans the offender again as he brought down Sterling, who picked himself up and emphatically swept his penalty into the top corner.

Nevertheless, Leicester responded brilliantly after the break. The visitors halved the deficit by the hour mark with a couple of quickfire counters resulting in Iheanacho well-timed throughballs for Maddison and Lookman to finish.

Former Man City forward Iheanacho then got in on the act to reduce the arrears to a single goal, but the hosts pulled clear from two Mahrez corners, with Laporte and Sterling profiting. 

Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel confessed he is at a loss to explain the club's poor defensive record.

The Foxes came from behind to claim a point against Spartak Moscow in Europa League Group C on Thursday after Daniel Amartey cancelled out Victor Moses' opener.

Leicester had a chance to secure victory when Moses gave away a penalty but substitute Jamie Vardy saw his spot-kick saved.

Moses' goal meant Brendan Rodgers' side have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last nine games in all competitions, and have only managed one in their last 15.

Schmeichel told BT Sport: "We are conceding too many goals at the moment but had enough chances to win it.

"Why are we conceding? If I knew it wouldn't be happening. It is something we are working on every single day but is not working too well at the minute.

"The game was there to be won. We dominated most of the game and they had a couple of chances and scored. We are conceding too many goals at the moment but had enough chances to win it.

"When you are not getting the luck you have to dig in and work harder. We have to look at ourselves, we cannot blame anyone else and have a massive Premier League game coming up against Leeds United."

Leicester have won just one of their last six games in the Europa League (drawn three, lost two), while failing to keep a clean sheet in each of the last five.

They were poor in front of goal against the Russian side, with just three of their 13 attempts on target despite enjoying 76.9 per cent of possession.

Group C is wide open, though, with third-placed Leicester a point behind second-placed Legia Warsaw and two behind leaders Napoli.

The Foxes play both sides in their remaining two fixtures which means their fate is in their own hands.

Kelechi Iheanacho acknowledged Leicester's forward players were equally culpable as their defensive colleagues for the draw with Spartak and they must improve in front of goal to qualify for the knockout phase.

"It was a frustrating game, we conceded a sloppy goal but got back into the game," added the Foxes striker.

"We were on them for the last 10 minutes, tried every means to score but we have to focus on the next two games now. Hopefully we will win and go through.

"The first half we kept the ball well and moved it quickly, in the second half we came out well but it was one of those games. We have to do a bit more.

"We missed a couple, we need to do more in the offensive side. It didn't come tonight.

"Everyone is down at the moment, we need to now focus on the next games. The Premier League first then look to progress in the Europa League."

Kelechi Iheanacho will miss Leicester City's Europa League match with Legia Warsaw on Thursday after he was denied entry to Poland by border authorities.

Manager Brendan Rodgers said there was an issue with the striker's documentation, which meant he was not allowed into the country.

The news was an unexpected blow for the Foxes, with Iheanacho having two goals and two assists in nine appearances in all competitions this season, a tally bettered only by Jamie Vardy (five goals and one assist).

"We've had an issue with Kelechi," Rodgers said on Wednesday. "His documentation coming into the country wasn't sufficient, so unfortunately he isn't available to play, which is a shame because he would have played in the game.

"He will be unavailable for the game. The paperwork didn't allow him into the country. It's unfortunate, but we'll have to look into that when we get back."

Leicester will also be without the suspended Wilfred Ndidi against Legia, while centre-back Jonny Evans remains sidelined with a foot injury.

The Premier League side drew 2-2 with Napoli in their opening group game, while Legia won 1-0 at Spartak Moscow.

This will be the third English side Legia have faced in European competition. They were knocked out of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1990-91 by Manchester United before taking four points from Blackburn Rovers in the Champions League group stages in 1995-96.

Is it time to ring the changes after a poor start or stick with the players who got you off to a flying start?

If you picked Bruno Fernandes for the opening round of Premier League fixtures, the Manchester United midfielder delivered with interest as he scored a stunning hat-trick against Leeds United.

Whether your team is sitting pretty or languishing in the lower reaches of the league, you have no doubt spent this week pondering potential selections.

Using Opta data, here are Stats Perform's Fantasy Picks that can rack up the points.

 

EDOUARD MENDY (Arsenal v Chelsea)

Edouard Mendy started the campaign with a clean sheet as Chelsea cruised to a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace.

The European champions face another London derby at Arsenal on Sunday and Mendy can ensure the Gunners fire a blank.

Since Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard in January, Mendy has kept more clean sheets than any other top-flight goalkeeper with 10. His clean sheet record of 53 per cent from 32 matches is the best in Premier League history for those who have played at least 10 games.

 

KIERAN TIERNEY (Arsenal v Chelsea)

Arsenal were beaten 2-0 by newly promoted Brentford in the first game of the campaign.

Mikel Arteta could have no complaints over Kieran Tierney's performance, with the marauding full-back creating six chances.

That was more than any other player in the opening round of fixtures and he can pose questions of the Chelsea defence in the London derby.

 

AARON CRESSWELL (West Ham v Leicester City)

West Ham defender Aaron Cresswell made a great start to the campaign and scored in a 4-2 victory at Newcastle United.

Cresswell has played a big part in the Hammers' success under David Moyes and is definitely one to consider picking for their home clash with Leicester City.

Since the start of last season, Cresswell has provided more assists (eight) than any other defender in the competition. No player has been involved in more goals than his tally of nine.

 

JOE WILLOCK (Aston Villa v Newcastle United)

Newcastle fans were delighted when Joe Willock returned to the club from Arsenal on a permanent deal following a successful loan spell last season.

Willock was not involved in a home loss to the Hammers, but can hit the ground running at Aston Villa.

The midfielder could become only the fourth player to score in eight consecutive Premier League games after ending last season in sensational form.

 

KEVIN DE BRUYNE (Manchester City v Norwich City)

Midfield maestro Kevin De Bruyne was restricted to a late substitute appearance as champions Manchester City were beaten at Tottenham last weekend.

Norwich City will be hoping the Belgium playmaker plays a limited role again, as he can cause all sorts of trouble if Pep Guardiola unleashes him from the start.

De Bruyne has been involved in five goals in four games against the Canaries, scoring three and setting up two. He has scored four and assisted seven in his past eight appearances versus newly promoted teams.

KELECHI IHEANACHO (West Ham v Leicester City)

Striker Kelechi Iheanacho was another player who started the Premier League as a substitute but he can make a big impact at West Ham.

He has been involved in four goals in his past four appearances against the Hammers, netting three times and providing an assist.

Iheanacho has enjoyed capital gains, scoring in his last three appearances in London.

 

ROBERTO FIRMINO (Liverpool v Burnley)

Brazil striker Roberto Firmino was on target in Liverpool's comfortable opening-day win at Norwich.

He has fond memories of coming up against Burnley, scoring five times and setting up a goal in his past six appearances versus the Clarets.

Firmino opened the scoring in a 3-0 victory at Turf Moor when the two sides last met in May and can strike again at Anfield.

Jamie Vardy will be remembered as Leicester City's greatest ever player, according to his former team-mate Andy King.

Vardy's goals fired Leicester to an unforgettable Premier League title triumph in 2015-16, when he was named the FWA Footballer of the Year and went on to play and score for England at Euro 2016.

While the likes of Riyad Mahrez and N'Golo Kante went on to seek pastures new, Vardy remained as the Foxes' talisman and on Saturday added the club's first FA Cup to their maiden top-flight title when Youri Tielemans' thunderbolt sunk Chelsea 1-0 at Wembley.

The 34-year-old's fairy tale ascent from non-league football has been well documented and, with 116 goals, he lies 19th on the Premier League's all-time goalscorers list.

Vardy will have his eye on climbing a few more places yet, as he is under contract to Leicester until 2023. When the time comes for him to move on, Wales international King believes there will be a virtually impossible void to fill.

"Everyone wants to know what the secret is or what he's like," King told Stats Perform.

"But he has no secret over things which he does. You guys know that because he's been telling everyone he drinks his coffee, drinks his Red Bull, he eats what he wants and then he goes out and scores two goals and runs around like a madman.

"What you see is what you get with him. Like with Wes [Morgan] and Kasper [Schmeichel], first and foremost he has great affection for the club, the people at the club and the owner.

"He's such a good guy to have in the changing room and to have off the pitch as well.

"The hole is going to be massive when he leaves Leicester. I think he's Leicester's best ever player. And that's before adding another trophy to the collection.

"He'll be a hard one to try replace when Leicester have to do that at some point."

On the other hand, Vardy's goalscoring mantle has arguably already passed, with the veteran playing a supporting role to the prolific Kelechi Iheanacho.

Vardy's 13 goals in the Premier League this term represent a joint-lowest return since he hit the same number in 2016-17, comfortably below the 23 he netted to win the Golden Boot last term.

But his nine assists represent a career best in the competition, matching his total from the past two years combined.

This can, in part, be attributed to a slightly altered role supporting Iheanacho in a 3-5-2 system - their lethal striker partnership taking Leicester to the brink of Champions League qualification, which can be secured in Tuesday's rematch with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The former Manchester City striker scored 20 times in all competitions across his previous three seasons at the King Power Stadium but he has exploded into life this time around, with 18 to his name.

Thirteen of those have come in his past 13 matches and King believes the 24-year-old's patience over the course of a lengthy acclimatisation process has been rewarded with more than just a new contract until 2024.

"When he first came in, he was in and out of the team," he said. "It must be hard adapting from Man City to go into another team where you're not going to get the chances laid on a plate for you and you're not going to have the ball for 80 per cent of the game. You've got to learn to do the other stuff as well.

"Kel was a really honest guy, he was trying really hard to learn the system. To start with, Leicester played a 4-3-3 with only one striker and Vards is always going to play.

"They changed the system when Harvey Barnes got injured, which was a big loss because he was playing really well. I don't know if Brendan said to him, 'Look, I'm going to go to a 3-5-2 and you're going to be my second striker, you know you're going to play'.

"If that was the case, he certainly rewarded the manager because for the second half of the season he has been absolutely outstanding. He's carrying Leicester at a moment to the top four, scoring goals when no one else was and his all-round play has always been good.

"Like, anyone when they're playing with confidence and knowing they're going to play the next game, it all falls into place. Strikers go on a hot streak and he's certainly on one of those at the moment."

As we head into the decisive matchdays in the Premier League season, match-winners will become worth their weight in gold to all 20 sides in the division.

With that in mind, our latest suggestions for fantasy football enthusiasts include a good number of forwards who will be expected to chip in with goals.

There are also two of the league's most in-form defenders and a goalkeeper who might just have won himself the number one spot.

Our tips for this week – powered by Opta, as always – are below...
 

DEAN HENDERSON

Since taking over Premier League duties while David de Gea was in Spain for the birth of his daughter, Dean Henderson has made it clear he does not intend to relinquish the Manchester United starting spot.

The former Sheffield United loanee has the best save percentage (82.4) in the competition this season, while he has conceded just 0.6 goals per game on average – the best rate of any keeper to play at least 200 minutes.

Henderson will likely keep his spot for the trip to Aston Villa, a team who have beaten United just once in their previous 44 Premier League meetings.

BEN CHILWELL

Fresh from celebrating reaching the Champions League final, Ben Chilwell will be looking to keep up his strong league form for Chelsea.

The left-back has been directly involved in seven goals this season (two scored, five assisted) – no defender in the competition has been involved in more.

Expect him to provide his customary threat on the break when Chelsea take on Manchester City.

AARON WAN-BISSAKA

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer challenged Aaron Wan-Bissaka to improve his attacking output, and the tough-tackling right-back appears to have heeded the call.

Three of his four goal involvements (75 per cent) and 21 of his 26 chances created (81 per cent) have come since the turn of the year.

The United man also boasts 13 Premier League clean sheets this season; among defenders, he is behind only Ruben Dias and Matt Targett (14).

MOHAMED SALAH

Liverpool might have struggled for consistency this season, but Mohamed Salah's goal output has remained impressively high; he has 20 in the league, behind only Harry Kane (21).

On Saturday, he will meet some of his favourite opposition in Southampton, a team against whom he has scored seven goals in seven league appearances, including five in three at Anfield.

Saints have also lost their past three league games away to Liverpool by an aggregate score of 10-0.

GARETH BALE

With a hat-trick against relegated Sheffield United, Gareth Bale proved he could still be a vital asset in Tottenham's European chase.

Bale has scored nine goals in 727 minutes in the division this season, averaging a goal every 81 minutes, which is the best record in the competition in 2020-21.

Should he take his tally to 10 against Leeds United, Bale will set a new record for the longest gap between 10-goal seasons in Premier League history (eight), overtaking Paul Scholes and Nwankwo Kanu (seven).

MASON GREENWOOD

Mason Greenwood has recaptured some of his better form in recent weeks to help United... well, if not catch Manchester City, at least consolidate second place.

The forward has four goals and one assist in his most recent four league games, which is more direct goal involvements than he managed in his previous 28 appearances.

Solskjaer will likely have to rotate given the hectic week ahead, but expect Greenwood to be involved at Villa Park, even if it's as a substitute.

KELECHI IHEANACHO

Speaking of rediscovering form, nobody in the league has done so quite as spectacularly in recent weeks as Kelechi Iheanacho.

The Leicester City striker has scored nine goals and assisted two in his most recent eight league appearances – that's one more direct goal involvement than he managed in his previous 57 league games.

The Foxes are also on a run of eight wins in 10 league games against Friday's opponents Newcastle United.

Brendan Rodgers is hoping to write his name in Leicester City folklore by guiding them to FA Cup glory in next month's final against Chelsea.

Leicester edged out fellow Premier League side Southampton 1-0 at Wembley on Sunday through a Kelechi Iheanacho strike to reach their first final since 1969.

The Foxes were memorably crowned English champions in 2015-16 but never before have they lifted the FA Cup, finishing runners-up on four occasions.

Rodgers is looking to put that right as Leicester attempt to balance their cup exploits with finishing in the top four of the Premier League over the remainder of the season.

"We have the chance to create history. That is what this game is about, creating a memory," he told BBC Sport. 

"I have been made aware since I've been at Leicester how important this cup is for the supporters. When we arrived here that was the ambition. 

"We said we wanted to be competitive. From a football perspective we wanted to be able to compete and we've been able to do that. Now we have a trophy to genuinely go for. 

"When you fail it is an integral part of being successful. We missed out last year, so a great credit to the players this time."

The victory was Leicester's first at Wembley since the 2000 EFL Cup final, with Iheanacho once again the hero.

He scored for the third round running to take his tally in the competition to 14 goals in 19 appearances since his first-such outing in January 2016 – the most of any player over that period.

"I've been unlucky in the past few years but I need to keep working hard to go to the next level now," Iheanacho told BT Sport.

"We did it together. Without the whole team we wouldn't have won. It's not a one-man show. 

"I'm happy with the way we played together and stayed together at the end and I was at the right place at the right time. We are in the final and we're really happy.

"I think the FA Cup loves me and I love the FA Cup."

Iheanacho is the first Nigerian player to score 15 goals in all competitions in a season for a Premier League club since Odion Ighalo in 2015-16 for Watford.

Rodgers added: "His confidence levels are very high. Some of his set-up play was a bit loose today but his confidence was not affected by that. 

"Him and Jamie [Vardy] are a real threat but it is very much a team effort."

Southampton have been eliminated in eight of their last 10 FA Cup semi-final appearances, two of which have come in the last four seasons.

The Saints had kept a clean sheet in each of the previous four rounds and scored eight goals, but they failed to have a single shot on target this time around.

"It's hard to take because we haven't been the worst team," Ralph Hasenhuttl told BBC Sport. "We saw a not very good football game to be honest, with both teams a little nervous.

"That such a goal decides such a game is a pity for us. We had a good run and we wanted to get to the final to give our fans the chance of another final. 

"In the end, especially in the final third, we didn't have good moments. We couldn't get a shot on goal and this is not enough. We had the chance to get to the final. We'll try again next year."

Leicester City reached the FA Cup final for the first time since 1969 as Kelechi Iheanacho continued his sensational form to secure a 1-0 win over Southampton.

Iheanacho had scored more FA Cup goals (13) heading into Sunday's contest at Wembley – which was played in front of a small crowd – than any other player since the start of 2015-16, and it was his second-half strike which proved decisive.

Playing in their first FA Cup semi-final since 1982, Leicester had the better chances throughout, although Iheanacho's effort was the only shot on target in the entire contest.

It gave the Foxes their first win at the new Wembley in four attempts and Brendan Rodgers' side will now chase a second when they face Chelsea in next month's showdown.

The 4,000 socially distanced fans were not treated to a true opportunity until Jamie Vardy raced through after half an hour, only to slice a close-range chip into the side netting.

With Southampton having more possession without threatening Leicester's goal – they finished the first half without registering a single attempt – Wilfried Ndidi had the next chance, his looping header landing on the roof of the net.

Leicester's breakthrough arrived 10 minutes after the restart. Vardy spun his marker to get to the byline and squared for Iheanacho, who slotted in after his initial effort was blocked.

Southampton responded swiftly, mustering four shots in quick succession, with Ibrahima Diallo going agonisingly close to restoring parity with a strike which whistled just wide.

Returning from the bench after his club-enforced suspension for a breach of COVID-19 regulations, James Maddison could have made it 2-0 with 13 minutes remaining but thumped over from Iheanacho's pass.

Maddison went closer still moments later with a venomous shot which flashed across Fraser Forster's goal, though a blunt Southampton attack failed to make Leicester pay for those missed opportunities.

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