N'Golo Kante v Jonjo Shelvey: The key battle in Leicester v Newcastle
Monday 14 March 2016 19:14, UK
Premier League leaders Leicester host struggling Newcastle on Monday Night Football.
The Foxes, who have won five of their last seven games, will hope for a repeat of the 3-0 win at St James' Park in November when Jamie Vardy scored in a tenth successive Premier League game to equal Ruud van Nistelrooy's record.
Vardy may have grabbed the headlines in the last meeting but the unsung hero was Leicester's defensive shield N'Golo Kante, who made more tackles (nine) and contested more duels (19) than any other player on the pitch that day and laid the foundations for an impressive win.
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Kante's performances this season have led to comparisons with Claude Makelele, who played under Claudio Ranieri at Chelsea. Ranieri described Makelele as "the battery in the watch" when he signed him from Real Madrid and Leicester's midfield man has certainly played an integral part in keeping his side ticking this season.
He's made more tackles (119) and more interceptions (116) than any other Premier League player going into the weekend.
Indeed, out of all the midfielders, only Danny Drinkwater (257) and Idrissa Gueye (269) have recovered possession more often and only Etienne Capoue (207) and Gueye (224) have won more duels. It is these ball-winning skills that have given the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Vardy the platform to play their natural game in the final third.
On Monday, Kante will be in direct competition with Newcastle's £12m January signing Jonjo Shelvey, who has started all seven games since joining.
Despite the Magpies losing five of the six games since he made a winning debut against West Ham, Shelvey hasn't gone into hiding and is the club's leader in terms of passing, tackling and assists. His influence on the side has been so great that he was handed the captain's armband against Bournemouth.
The former Liverpool midfielder has actually made 91 more successful passes than any of his Newcastle team-mates over the past seven games with 161 of his 324 successful passes coming in the opposition half.
While the England man has yet to register his first goal for his new club, it's not through a lack of trying with only Aleksandar Mitrovic having had more shots in the past two months.
Leicester will note that all four of his shots on target have come from outside the area and this is a key area of his game. Only Christian Eriksen and Philippe Coutinho have had more shots on target from outside the box since the start of 2015.
The attacking threat that Shelvey poses is certainly an area that Kante will look to nullify and another impressive performance could seal a meteoric rise over the past three seasons from the sixth tier of French football to the international arena.
France head coach Didier Deschamps is known to be monitoring his progress and will soon name his squad ahead of friendly games against the Netherlands and Russia at the end of March.
Certainly Leicester fans will be hoping he can win a place in that squad with another dominant midfield display. A first league double over Newcastle for 41 years would take the Foxes another step closer to their first top division title.
