Leicester City scraped past a spirited Walsall in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday evening.
The League Two side defended well and had the better chances in the 90 minutes. However, some poor finishing by Walsall and some excellent keeping by Danny Ward ensured the scores stayed at 0-0. Ward was Leicester’s hero in the penalty shootout, saving all three of Walsall’s spot-kicks
Here’s how we rated the Leicester City players;
Leicester City player ratings vs Walsall
Danny Ward – 9 (MOTM)
Made a fantastic save in the first half to keep the scores level. Looked composed in possession and was Leicester’s hero in the penalty shootout.
Ricardo Pereira – 6
The Foxes captain for the evening had a decent game. He played as an inverted fullback on the right flank, which limited his involvement in Leicester’s build-up play in the final third.
Conor Coady – 6
Showed good leadership at the back, marshalling the defence well. His long balls weren’t accurate but he converted his penalty confidently.
Caleb Okoli – 7
The new signing was excellent in defence, showing good physicality and awareness. His distribution was good, too, with plenty of his long balls reaching their target.
Luke Thomas – 5
The Leicester academy graduate played as the attacking fullback on the left flank. While he bombed forward often, he did not influence play much and went for the backwards pass too frequently.
Hamza Choudhury – 7
A typical combative display in the midfield by Choudhury. He shielded Leicester’s backline well and looked calm on the ball.
Boubakary Soumare – 6
His first start under Steve Cooper was decent. Was a bit slow in possession at times but had a couple of good moments in the final third.
Facundo Buonanotte – 5
Had plenty of the ball and was at the end of a few chances, but nothing came out of it. It was a determined but frustrating display by the youngster.
Bobby Decordova-Reid – 6
He linked up play in the final third well in the first half, but his influence waned as the match continued.
Odsonne Edouard – 5
His first Foxes start wasn’t great. He wasn’t much of a threat in the box and only managed one shot, which was off target, the entire game.
Abdul Fatawu – 7
Struggled in the opening hour but came to life after that. He got the better of his fullback multiple times and created a few good chances for his teammates.
Jordan Ayew – 5
Came on with 21 minutes left to play but barely had the ball.
Oliver Skipp – 6
Did the basics well and slotted his penalty in the bottom corner
Bilal El Khannouss, Kasey McAteer – 5
Like Ayew, they didn’t influence play much.