Crystal Palace 2-2 Leicester City: Ndidi voted joint best for Foxes, hailed by Cooper

The influential Leicester City based newspaper, the Leicester mercury as rated Wilfred Ndidi one of the best two players for the Foxes in their 2-2 draw at Crystal Place on Saturday.

Ndidi again started in the advanced midfield role for the Foxes like he did all of last season in the Sky Bet Championship under Enzo Maresca, a decision that angered the fans who wanted a natural offensive player to play in that position but the Nigerian shut them up with an incredible performance, especially in the first half and this was noticed by gaffer, Steve Cooper and Leicester Mercury.

The newspaper rated the Nigerian eight out of a possible 10 marks.

‘Ndidi’s inclusion over a recognised attacking midfielder had been controversial, but the Nigerian was excellent in the first half. He stole possession from Adam Wharton and clipped a ball through to Vardy, showed great balance and composure to round Dean Henderson and finish, a vintage goal for the number nine,’ wrote the newspaper.

Cooper also hailed the Nigerian for rising to the occasion and explained why he played the 27 year old in that position.

‘He did quite a lot of that last season from the analysis I did. We have the players to make decisions on certain profiles for certain games in certain positions.

‘Wilf delivered today. He’s had a long week travelling and there was thought about the international boys, whether they should play or not. But Wilf’s got so many Premier League appearances under him, which doesn’t mean you start a game but we felt today we needed that and luckily it showed,’ Cooper explained.

Ndidi has now provided three assists this season to sit in third position with Liverpool’s Mo Salah on the Premier League assists list for the season behind Cole Palmer of Chelsea and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka who have fou each.