Why Foxes are paying the penalty
REFEREES’ DIRECTIVE HAVING A BIG IMPACT
THE Premier League’s penalty-winning kings are still waiting for their first spot-kick of the campaign – and it’s having an impact on their form.
Leicester City were awarded the most penalties in the Premier League last season, and have ranked in the top six every year from the title-winning campaign onwards.
Last term, their excellent start to the season was supplemented by eight penalties in the first eight Premier League games as they became the early pace-setters, leading the division with 18 points.
This term, they are one of nine teams still waiting for their first spot-kick.
Take away those eight penalties in the first eight games last term, and City would have had four fewer points.
With four more points this term, City would be sitting in the top eight, and their troubles may not have felt quite so concerning.
What is unusual is that City have not been getting into the box less often.
While their number of touches in the attacking third per game is way down on last season (132 compared to 163), their number of touches inside the penalty area per game is slightly up on last term’s average (23 compared to 22). Perhaps teams have grown wise to City’s success in winning spot-kicks and have adapted their game accordingly.
But perhaps the impact has also been felt in the new directive from refereeing body PGMOL.
They set out their stance to be more lenient at the start of the season, with their general manager Mike Riley saying: “Fundamentally, we want the approach to be one that best allows players to express themselves, that allows the Premier League game to flow, and means that the team of referees and VAR don’t intervene in trivial offences.
“Let’s create a free-flowing game, where the threshold for intervention both as referees and VAR is slightly higher than it was last season.” That has shown in the number of penalties awarded across the division so far.
Based on last season’s average, 23 spot-kicks would have been awarded after seven rounds of games, but so far the number stands at 17.
Still, the decision to let games flow more was broadly wellreceived around the division prior to the season beginning, while City winger Harvey Barnes, pictured, has said he is a fan of the more lenient approach.
“As a whole it’s good,” he said. “You don’t want to see the game stopped all the time. It just slows it down.
“It benefits the game more. But of course as an attacking player, you’re not always going to get those decisions. But it levels itself out.”