Leicester Boss hails Covid-returnee Amartey after "headline-writing" Liverpool masterclass

Leicester Boss hails Covid-returnee Amartey after "headline-writing" Liverpool masterclass

Emmanuel Kwame Donkor
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:53 PM
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  • Daniel Amartey played all 90 minutes in Leicester City's impressive 1:0 victory against Liverpool in their English Premier League (EPL) game on Tuesday night
  • The Ghana Black Stars defender, in an unusual center-back pairing with Nigerian counterpart, Wilfred Ndidi, excelled at preventing Liverpool from scoring in their EPL game on Wednesday
  • Branden Rodgers, manager of Leicester City, has hailed Daniel Amartey for his "headline-writing" performance in the game versus Liverpool

Leicester City boss, Branden Rodgers, has hailed Ghana's Daniel Amartey for his outstanding performance in his side's 1:0 win over Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool.

The Foxes gaffer, reserved special mention for the 27-year-old defender for playing such intense games, first versus Manchester City and now Liverpool, not long after returning to action from covid-19.

Branden Rodgers thought his players' showing in the Liverpool game deserved praise especially because of the nine players the team was missing to injuries or covid-19, which forced a rare defensive pairing of Amartey and defensive midfielder, Ndidi, against the Reds.

Leicester City Boss hails Covid-returnee Amartey after "headline-writing" Liverpool masterclass
Ghana Black Stars and Leicester City defender, Daniel Amartey. Source: Twitter/@Squawka
Source: Twitter
"There's no doubt [it is one of the biggest wins of the season]. The likes of Daniel Amartey has been off with Covid and one day back in training plays two games.
"Luke Thomas, a young lad playing lots of games. I'm pretty sure the headlines were written before the game. The beauty of the game is it's a chance for the players to write their own headlines and they did that", Rodgers told the BBC after the game.

Daniel Amartey had been in and out of the starting line-up for Leicester in the weeks prior with Evan and Soyunchu being the manager's preferred pairing after giving Amartey the nod earlier in the start of the season.

The Liverpool game was Amartey's second game after returning from the sidelines due to a positive covid-19 result, with the first being the 6:3 thrilling defeat to league leaders, Manchester City last Sunday at the Etihad in the EPL.

Daniel Amartey racked up nine clearances, five interceptions, four blocks, two tackles, two duels won, and was not dribbled past by any player against Jurgen Kloop's Liverpool according to Squawka Football.

The player's form would come in handy for his national team side, the Ghana Black Stars, as they bid to win an elusive fifth African Cup of Nations (AFCON) come January 2022, after Amartey was named in the West African squad for the tournament. He will travel to Qatar come weekend to join the rest of his team-mates as they prepare for the AFCON.

Daniel Amartey part of Ghana Black Stars players to be lost to AFCON by European top-5 league clubs

From the 30-man squad announced by Ghana Black Stars Coach, Milovan Rajevac for AFCON, nine of the players play for clubs from the top five European leagues.

With as many as 25 out of the 30 players named in the squad plying their trade outside Ghana, and only five playing in the country, it is expected that quite a number would be from Europe's top five leagues.

Authors
Emmanuel Kwame Donkor photo
Emmanuel Kwame Donkor
Ghana Sports Editor