We Look Different This Year, Says Maddison

- Leicester City beat Chelsea 2-0 at King Power Stadium on Tuesday evening
- Goalscorer James Maddison stressed the importance of remaining focused in the coming months
- The England international also pointed to the efforts of Wilfred Ndidi in the centre of midfield

Maddison's 41st-minute effort followed an opener from Wilfred Ndidi as the Foxes made it four wins from four in 2021 in all competitions and extended their unbeaten run to seven outings.

City also briefly rose to the Premier League's summit following that triumph over Frank Lampard's Blues and, while the England international admitted it brought satisfaction, he pointed to the challenges to come.

"It's good psychologically, it's good mentally," he told LCFC TV. "It shows we're doing something right. We don't get too carried away because we're 50 per cent of the way through - there's a long way to go.

"I think we look different this year. We look strong, we look resilient in games. Just being able to say we're top of the Premier League is a really nice feeling."

With Leicester leading 1-0, Chelsea were initially awarded a penalty after Jonny Evans' foul on Christian Pulisic, but after VAR intervened, the visitors only had a free-kick, which was missed.

Minutes later, up stepped Maddison to double City's lead, latching onto a forward ball by Marc Albrighton, and the 24-year-old was pleased to register his third top-flight goal in as many games.

"It's about those big moments," he added. "One minute I'm stood on the edge of the box thinking Tammy Abraham is about to take a penalty when he stood over the penalty spot with the ball.

"At then we go up the other end, the ball's bounced and I'm in front of goal. That's how quickly football can change - that's the Premier League: quick-fire and that's why it's the best league in the world.

"It was just about staying composed and staying cool. My dad always used to say to me when we practised in the garden: 'stay ice-cool in those situations'.

"The best finishers, they don't snatch at chances, they don't rush it. It's just about staying composed, and I knew I was going to be able to get a shot away.

"It was just about getting a good contact. Thankfully, it went in and it's nice to get another goal."

Maddison was also delighted to see Ndidi get on the scoresheet for the first time in 2020/21 before paying tribute to the Nigeria international's tireless efforts in midfield. 

"I think he'll be the first person to tell you that shooting is not necessarily his strongest asset," Maddison said. "He keeps trying - as much as Vards (Jamie Vardy) and Kasper [Schmeichel] hammer him for shooting from anywhere!

"It was a nicely-worked corner. We didn't quite work on the Harvey Barnes sliced shot, which fell to Wilf behind him, but we'll take it! I'm really happy for him, he's an unbelievable guy and an unbelievable player.

"He'll very rarely get the headlines on the back of the paper because he does the dirty work that people don't want to do and people don't really want to analyse because it's not as eloquent.

"It's not like showing a goal that goes into the top corner, but he does the work and there's no guy in there, no player or member of staff that doesn't appreciate what Wilfred Ndidi brings to the team.

"I always say it's like having two players. I feel safe and secure when he's behind me. So credit to him and I hope he does get headlines tomorrow."

On the back of six points from a four-day double-header at King Power Stadium, the former Norwich man believes Leicester are starting to repair an initially inconsistent home record in 2020/21.

"We haven't been brilliant at home, especially early on in the season," he continued. "We were losing the West Ham game, the Villa game. It's nice to win at home.

"It's always good to win at home. Our form away from home has been excellent, second to none, really. So it's about tightening up on the home form.

"A brilliant performance, like you say, we controlled the game. The gaffer will say to you sometimes: 'you can control the game without the ball'.

"Chelsea are a solid team with great players, individual talent. So there are going to be times where they have possession.

"Sometimes you have to give up possession because they have good players that can hurt you and be solid.

"We controlled the threat. If you can accept that they're going to have spells of possession and you work on how to stop it when they do, you always give yourself a chance.

"Credit to the gaffer and his coaching staff, because that's what we did.

"They never really hurt us. Kasper wasn't troubled too much. We felt solid and gave away very few chances."