Liverpool 2-1 Leicester City: 3 reasons why the Reds won against the Foxes | Premier League 2019-20

#2 Van Dijk, Lovren and the aides keep Leicester's pesky attack at bay

Lovren and Van Dijk were solid in the defence

Dejan Lovren made his first start for Liverpool in quite some time but he looked as though he has been playing week in week out. With the ever-sturdy Virgil van Dijk, Lovren was a solid cog in the heart of Liverpool's defence.

By half-time, Jamie Vardy had managed only 8 touches off the ball and had lost 2 out of 3 ground duels. As the clock hit 90, Vardy's output was 0/2 dribbles, 21 touches, 2/5 ground duels won and 2/8 aerial duels won.

Van Dijk and Lovren were both solid in the air - winning 9/12 duels combined. When it came to ground duels they won 6/8 combined.

Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino tracked back willingly to help and reduce the risk from the Leicester fullbacks. Mane made two brilliant tackles on Ben Chilwell in the first half as he was about to execute a cutback. Fabinho, even though struggled a bit, did his part to keep James Maddison as quite as possible. The Liverpool midfield reduced Maddison to 0 key passes and 6/14 successful duels.

All in all - a gritty Liverpool performance on the defensive end saw the Reds edge the game and it had contributions from every player on the pitch.