Ahead of Leicester’s huge Boxing Day clash against Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers had a crucial decision to make in terms of his system.



Rodgers has essentially used three formations this season. There’s the 4-3-1-2, which he’d used recently to get Kelechi Iheanacho up front alongside Jamie Vardy, but using such a narrow system would have been risky against Liverpool’s full-backs. There’s the 4-3-3 with James Maddison and Youri Tielemans both playing as attack-minded No 8s but this might have left Wilfred Ndidi stranded alone in midfield.



And therefore, Rodgers opted for what is probably the most cautious of his systems, the 4-3-3 with Maddison playing from the left flank and drifting inside to offer more in the midfield zone, with Ayoze Perez omitted, Harvey Barnes switching to the right, and Dennis Praet used as the third midfielder. This would, in theory, allow Leicester to compete in the centre.



The problem, though, was that...