Player Focus: Mahrez's Dip in Form Cause for Concern in Leicester's Title Bid

“It’s important he understands this new thing on the pitch, that everyone wants to stop him with the right way or the wrong way. He has to be clever,” Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri said of Riyad Mahrez. The Foxes boss was speaking in the wake of the 1-1 draw at Aston Villa last weekend, a match in which Mahrez missed a penalty that would have put Leicester 2-0 up and effectively sealed all three points at Villa Park. 

After such a prolific start to the season, the 24-year-old has become a marked man in the Premier League and it comes as little shock. Mahrez swiftly established himself as one of the early frontrunners to secure the Player of the Year award in the opening months of the campaign as Leicester stormed up the table. They currently sit level at the summit of England’s top tier with Arsenal, second only due to an inferior goal difference, but Mahrez has done little of late to maintain the Foxes’ surprise title pursuit. 

His two penalty misses in his last four appearances - against Bournemouth and Villa - have cost Leicester a total of four points, with this recent inability to hit the back of the net from 12 yards clearly affecting his confidence. Since the 3-2 win at Everton where Mahrez netted twice, the attacker’s form has nosedived. No player has been directly involved in more goals in the Premier League this season than Mahrez (20 - 13 goals, 7 assists), however he has failed to contribute to a league goal in any of his last five league appearances. 

Prior to the Boxing Day defeat to Liverpool, Mahrez’s WhoScored rating was the best in England’s top tier (8.37), yet of those to feature in at least three of the last five league games, his lowly rating of 6.74 ranks 171st. Fortunately, Leicester have lost just one of those five games, though conversely have won just once, that coming in a 1-0 win at Tottenham last week. 

While such a run has gone some way to suggest Leicester can cope without Mahrez and star striker Jamie Vardy playing to their peak, in the long run, the poor recent form of the former is cause for concern. A lack of a proper rest afforded to him so far this season hasn’t aided his cause, with Mahrez playing 1716 minutes of a possible 1980 in the Premier League this term. While Ranieri has opted against using the Algerian in domestic cup competitions - the winger sat out the recent FA Cup double header with Spurs - the cumulative amount of playing time seems to be having an adverse effect on his performances. 

Mahrez's best asset is his ability to beat a man with the ball at his feet. Only Wilfried Zaha (73) and Ross Barkley (72) have completed more dribbles in the Premier League this season (68), though the average number of successful dribbles he has completed per game before Christmas (3.6) has dropped after (2). With Ranieri admitting that he is more closely marked, it comes as little shock that this number has dipped. 

With opposing sides now paying closer attention to the Algerian star, Mahrez is granted less space with which to exert his creative and offensive qualities. It’s no surprise, therefore, that his number of key passes played per game has dropped (from 2 to 1.2), as have the number of clear-cut goalscoring opportunities he has created per league match (0.8 to 0). 

Of course, given Vardy’s recent injury and spell on the sidelines, Leicester’s attacking quality has dipped, meaning Mahrez has not be given the chance to work off of a striker who he is familiar with of late. When factoring in stand in striking duo Shinji Okazaki and Leonardo Ulloa have just five league goals between them this term, it highlights just how important Vardy is to Mahrez and vice versa. 

Furthermore, Mahrez is doing little to aid his team when off the ball at present. His average number of tackles has dropped (from 1.8 to 0.6) as has the number of times he is winning possession in the attacking third (0.7 to 0.2). His successful final third passes have risen (8.6 to 9.6) but this suggests he’s at present shirking his offensive responsibilities, with Mahrez instead passing the buck rather than looking to forge chances for himself or his teammates, though this too is likely to be due to the extra attention paid to him by the opposition. 

Nevertheless, Mahrez’s performance levels have clearly dipped following a blistering start to the season. The January acquisition of Demarai Gray should ease the attacking burden on Mahrez, with the teenage winger more than capable of providing a similar driving threat out wide. If Leicester, though, wish to maintain their title pursuit, they will need their wing wizard to rediscover his best form sooner rather than later.

Buabook trade tip

With Jamie Vardy now back at full fitness, Leicester have their main striker available and ready to re-discover his goalscoring touch. However, the same cannot be said of Riyad Mahrez, whose confidence is likely to be at its lowest this season. With a tough trip to Stoke forthcoming, I would be reluctant to spend more than £0.20 on shares in Mahrez with Buabook.

Can Riyad Mahrez turn his poor form around in Leicester's title bid? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below