Jamie Vardy

29 August to 28 November, 2015 — over those three months, Jamie Vardy did something no player in Premier League history had ever managed: he scored in 11 consecutive matches. The record had stood for over a decade, held by Ruud van Nistelrooy since 2003, and Vardy didn't just match it, he broke it outright while playing for a Leicester City side that had been relegation candidates the season before. That scoring run became the engine behind the Foxes' 5,000/1 title miracle, with Vardy finishing the campaign as the club's top scorer and one of the central reasons Leicester lifted the Premier League trophy against every bookmaker's prediction. This 2016 card is DLS's snapshot of the striker who turned a non-league journeyman story into one of football's most unlikely fairytales.

The stats lean fully into Vardy's greatest strength — pace on the last shoulder. A 90 Speed and 90 Acceleration explain exactly how he tormented Premier League defensive lines during that run, timing runs in behind before centre-backs could react. A 91 Shooting confirms the clinical edge that turned those chances into goals week after week, while 89 Stamina shows the relentless work rate Ranieri demanded from his forward line. His 75 Passing and 81 Control are solid without being spectacular — Vardy was never a creator or a dribbler, he was built to finish. At 179 cm, right-footed and playing CF for England, a modest 70 Strength and low 50 Tackling round out a profile that's almost entirely about one job: getting in behind and putting the ball in the net.

An 83 overall rating might undersell what this card represents, because Vardy's real value in DLS comes from how specialised and repeatable his output is. With elite pace and finishing but nothing else to lean on, this is a card built for a specific system — pair him with a creative midfield and he'll punish defensive lines exactly like he did in real life. For anyone chasing an authentic pace-merchant striker with a genuine record-breaking pedigree behind the card, the 2016 Jamie Vardy remains one of the most fun, high-ceiling options in the Champion lineup.