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LEICESTER BOSS, RODGERS, SALUTES NDIDI’S IMPACT IN WIN OVER LIVERPOOL

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Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers has praised the impact of Nigerian midfielder Wilfred Ndidi on his side’s 3-1 win over Liverpool this past weekend.

The Foxes handed the Reds a third straight Premier League defeat and effectively ended their hopes of retaining the title with a come-from-behind triumph at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.

Mohamed Salah put Liverpool ahead midway through the second half, but Leicester roared back with three goals in the space of seven minutes, as James Maddison, Jamie Vardy and Harvey Barnes all found the back of the net.

The final goal from Barnes was the best of the trio and was created by Ndidi, whose perfectly weighted pass allowed the English attacker to race through and score past goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

Assists are not usually Ndidi’s forte, with the Super Eagles star more renowned for doing the dirty work in the middle of the park – something Rodgers always appreciates.

“All the stats show you when he plays for us the difference he makes, and for him even to get an assist for the third goal was very pleasing,” said the Foxes manager after the match.

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“But at the highest level of the game you need someone who can recover you the ball, especially when you’ve talented players and he’s one of the best in the Premier League at that, so he was colossal today for us, and he really typified a really good team performance.”

Ndidi has made 12 Premier League appearances in the 2020-21 season, registering one goal, one assist and two yellow cards.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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