Leicester City must return to winning ways on Saturday as they welcome West Bromwich Albion to the East Midlands.
Enzo Maresca‘s side have suffered six defeats in their last 10 Championship games which has seriously jeopardised their top two hopes.
Though, they still remain in the driving seat, residing one point adrift of league leaders Ipswich Town with a game in hand.
To mathematically secure automatic promotion, they need three wins from their last four games, which would move them to 97 points, a tally Leeds United and Southampton can’t reach.
Ahead of the must-win clash against Albion, one City gem has been impressing in an under-21 fixture and is making a real claim to be involved in the first-team.
Will Alves making noise in the Leicester City academy
Will Alves is a name most Foxes fans will be well aware of, having made his senior debut aged 16 during an FA Cup win against Watford back in January 2022.
The England youth international is returning from a long injury lay-off and is starting to get back up to speed with the under-21s.
Last night, he laid on two assists for Oli Ewing in a 3-0 win against Stoke City in the Premier League 2 and looks ready to make the step up to Maresca’s squad.
Alves did appear on the bench away at Watford in February, so clearly the Italian head coach believes he can make an impact.
Perhaps he could be used as a wildcard option against West Brom this weekend.
City have been crying out for some creativity in the final third, particularly late on in games, so now may be the time to utilise Alves.
Will Alves adds a different profile to Leicester City’s attack
The 18-year-old playmaker adds a different profile to Leicester‘s forward line, as at the moment, they don’t really have a natural number 10.
Since James Maddison’s departure last summer, the East Midlanders have missed a player who takes the ball on the half turn just outside the box.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, admittedly, does assume positions in the pockets, but often he’s driving the ball forward from deeper areas.
Alves would be absolutely perfect just behind the striker, playing in a more advanced role than Dewsbury-Hall, so Maresca shouldn’t hesitate to deploy him there. He is well aware of just how talented he is.
Speaking back in October, the former Manchester City assistant said: “At the moment, because it was a very long injury, he has to work every day, train every day, enjoy every day, then slowly come with us.
“But we’ll see. For sure, we’ve had him for a couple of sessions and we can see that he looks like he has something important, something special.”
The post 'Special' Leicester City player could be Enzo Maresca's wildcard v West Bromwich Albion - opinion appeared first on Leicester City News.