Guardiola: Bayern Munich won’t be hurt from my Man City commitment

“Stop Vardy: stop Leicester” is how many people see this game, and although this isn’t quite fair on Leicester-it certainly wouldn’t harm City.

Surprise leaders Leicester have just the league to focus on and with few injury problems at present, they could have a clear advantage in the title race. “It’s a good game, we have the option to close that gap, but nothing more”, said the Chilean.

“It just depends on what they can do from now until the end of the season but having to play 13 more games it is very hard to predict”. There are still a lot of points. Sometimes you can win, sometimes you lose.

The Foxes have now picked up 28 points away from home this season.

While doubters question their ability to last the pace, Leicester’s recent results have convinced Ranieri his players are embracing the spotlight and won’t wilt under the pressure of battling for their first top-flight title.

But Pochettino, whose side have won their last five matches, was in no mood to make predictions when asked about Tottenham’s chances. They play with the same team every week.

Henry said: “We knew he was going to retire and Pep was going to take the job – and they went on to win the treble”.

Zabaleta admitted Leicester were the better side and City have to pick themselves up quickly for their clash with in-form Spurs who beat them 4-1 at White Hart Lane back in September.

Captain Vincent Kompany (calf) is making encouraging progress but is not yet fit to return.

Leicester City FC now sits on top of the table with a 3-point-lead over the Citizens and a win for Manchester City FC could transform the shape of the table as they’ll emerge as new league leaders on goal difference.

“It’s been a very hard season in terms of injuries”, he said.

“We must continue in this way”.

“But we’re alive and we want to fight”.

“But I know how to handle it and I will do that for the next four months”. “We suspect changes, it’s normal, but now is not the right time to talk about the future because there’s a lot of time for this”. Difficult, because when you’re playing against a team like City, players with fantastic quality, it’s not easy but we concentrated very much. Maybe everybody believes in something special and they are working for something special.

He said: “We must recover as soon as we can after this defeat”.

The Foxes were superb against their title rivals but the Italian is trying to keep himself grounded while the club’s fans dream of glory come the end of the season. Ha ha ha. This is a secret. However, that is the situation we find ourselves in now, despite how Manuel Pellegrini tried to play it down in his pre-match press conference.

Only Matty James (knee) and Jeff Schlupp (hamstring) will definitely be absent for the trip to Manchester.