Jamie Vardy spoils James Maddison’s King Power party as Leicester hold Tottenham on Premier League return
Jamie Vardy haunted Tottenham Hotspur once again as Leicester City marked their return to the Premier League with a 1-1 draw against Ange Postecoglou’s side.
In the first half, it looked as though it would be James Maddison’s night as he made his return to the King Power Stadium.
The Englishman made the switch from the King Power to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last summer, leaving Leicester after their relegation to the Championship. It was a move that didn’t go down too well with Leicester fans, and Maddison did receive some boos on Monday night.
But that didn’t faze Maddison in the first half. Maddison has made a bit of a name for himself as a fiend away from home, thriving on the road. So we shouldn’t have been surprised to see him involved in Tottenham’s 2024/25 Premier League opener.
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Maddison set up Tottenham’s opener just before the half-hour mark with a lovely in-swinging ball into the box for Pedro Porro to head home. It was his 50th direct goal involvement away from home in the Premier League (25 goals and 25 assists).
Since his debut season in the competition, no Premier League midfielder has been involved in more away goals than the Englishman. He sits level alongside Kevin De Bruyne, who has 18 goals and 32 assists away from home since the start of 2017/18.
And, in reality, this was also just another home game for Maddison.
During his time at Leicester, Maddison played 80 games in the Premier League at the King Power Stadium. In that time, the Englishman provided 15 assists and created 179 chances. Only Harvey Barnes (17) and Jamie Vardy (16) provided more assists, but Maddison led the way for chances created. Per 90 minutes, that worked out to 0.21 assists and 2.52 chances created.
FT: Leicester 1-1 Tottenham
Only Mohamed Salah (9) has scored more goals on the opening weekend of a Premier League season than Jamie Vardy (8). 🦊#LEITOT | @bet365 | #Ad pic.twitter.com/k9egxUt0ws
— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) August 19, 2024
In fact, Maddison ranks sixth for chances created at a single stadium in the Premier League since his move to Leicester in 2018, now at 182 at the King Power. However, all five players above him in the standings have played in ever-present stadiums.
On the night, Maddison created three chances with one assist and completed 86.7% of his passes. He put in a match-high 11 crosses and 40 passes in the final third. It was a decent showing back at the King Power.
But it wasn’t to be a completely happy return.
When Tottenham seemed to be in control, Leicester struck. The Foxes had a sustained period of attack but the chance looked to have disappeared when a ball across goal evaded everyone. But Abdul Fatawu kept the ball alive and set up Vardy, who headed home the equaliser.
It was Vardy’s ninth Premier League goal against Tottenham, only netting more in his league career against Arsenal and Watford (11 each). Vardy has also now scored eight goals on the opening weekend of a Premier League season, with only Mohamed Salah (nine) scoring more.
Jamie Vardy has been directly involved in 12+ goals against two sides in the Premier League:
◉ Arsenal (11 goals, 1 assist)
◉ Tottenham (9 goals, 3 assists)North London belongs to Vards. 🦊 pic.twitter.com/DS3zXfns1k
— Squawka (@Squawka) August 19, 2024
The veteran had the chance to equal the record too, having broken through on goal later with 20 minutes to go, but Guglielmo Vicario was well-matched to save his effort.
This was a Vardy that hadn’t expected to play for this game, after a tough tackle in pre-season — which the Englishman described as trying to put his leg into Geneva Lake.
Jamie Carragher said of Vardy on Sky Sports: “I’m trying to think of Leicester’s history, obviously I don’t know it as well as their supporters. But when you think of that team that win the league, they’re probably the biggest legends.
“He’s the sole survivor, he’s obviously won the FA Cup. He’s gone down with them and he’s come back up. I would imagine he’s Leicester’s greatest ever player, or biggest legend in the club’s history.”
“He’s got to be very close. When you think of what he’s achieved and where he’s come from, he is a special footballer.”
And it wouldn’t be a Vardy match without him rattling the opposition fans. When he was coming off as a substitute, Vardy reminded Tottenham fans that he has one Premier League title to his name to their zero. Of course, his title with Leicester came at the expense of Tottenham in 2015/16.
