A two-goal haul against Liverpool on Monday evening served a timely reminder of Jamie Vardy’s (£9.6m) talents to Fantasy Premier League managers.
Steering Leicester City to victory in their first match since parting company with Claudio Ranieri, the striker ended a seven-Gameweek goalless streak to hint at a return to the form that produced 24 goals in the Foxes’ title-winning 2015/16 season.
Hugely inconsistent this time around, Vardy has scored in only four of his 21 appearances, yet, as demonstrated with a Gameweek 15 hat-trick at home to Manchester City, he remains capable of producing big returns for FPL managers.
With their morale on the rise after seeing off the Merseysiders, Leicester have the opportunity to build momentum with Hull City visiting the King Power Stadium in Gameweek 27.
The Tigers rank in the bottom three sides away from home for both "big chances" conceded (26) and goals against (28) and have kept a mere two clean sheets on their travels all season.
When assessed against his previous performances over Gameweeks 1-22, it is clear that Vardy has upped his goal threat.
His shots per-match have jumped from 1.3 to 2.5, while his shots inside the penalty area (from 1.2 to 2.2) and shots on target (0.5 to 0.8) have also improved.
Vardy's increased goal threat
| Per-match | GW1-22 | GW23-26 |
| Shots | 1.3 | 2.5 |
| Penalty-area shots | 1.2 | 2.2 |
| Shots on target | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| Chances created | 0.7 | 1.5 |
| ICT Index | 4.6 | 7.2 |
Vardy has been Leicester’s chief goal threat across the last four Gameweeks, with a total of eight shots inside the penalty area more than double that of any team-mate.
He has also created six chances in that spell; no other Foxes asset provided more goalscoring opportunities.
Having climbed two points clear of the bottom three on Monday evening, the fixture list offers Leicester further reason for optimism.
Although they are without an opponent in Gameweek 28 as a result of postponements due to the FA Cup quarter-finals, seven of the Foxes' next nine matches score two or less in the Fixture Difficulty Rankings (FDR).
This run includes Hull, Stoke City, Sunderland and Watford, in addition to visits to West Ham United, Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion.
Owned by just 7.6% of FPL managers, Vardy could now be a game-changer.
His improving output and confidence may just offer FPL managers a prolific and explosive option over the season run-in.
