Mourinho has rare praise for old rival Ranieri

“One year ago, they were bottom of the league, Ranieri was sacked from Greece after losing to the Faeroe Islands, now he’s the top manager in the Premier League, and the players are in the top of the league – this is fantastic”.

Ranieri, meanwhile, took Leicester back to the top of the Premier League with victory over Swansea last weekend a position they hit during an impressive unbeaten November which saw them record wins away to Newcastle, at home to Watford, and a 1-1 draw with Manchester United.

Things have also turned around for Mourinho, who led Chelsea to the championship in May but is now under pressure for his job after the team’s worst start to a Premier League title defense.

Liverpool’s Dejan Lovren rounds out the shortlist after dominant displays in the wins against Manchester City and Swansea.

“A good season at the moment for us, of course, is not the aim to think about, but focus on every game”.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho still wants to achieve a top four finish at the end of the season. “But we have basically the same potential as last season”.

Since then, the fortunes of both teams have been transformed, with Leicester’s rise linked to the startling scoring form of Jamie Vardy. “They are confident. It will be very hard”.

“When you are champion, when you are winning matches you show your emotion”. Everyone who is at this club for a certain period of time likes the club very much and Ranieri is showing the nice feeling he has, but I also believe what he says [about a top-four finish].

Mourinho has a fully-fit squad to choose from, while Matty James and Ritchie De Laet (ankle) are Leicester’s only absentees, the former having made his return from a cruciate ligament injury in last week’s Under-21s defeat to Villarreal. “When things go wrong, it’s about managers and when things go well, it’s about players”, Mourinho said.

Can Leicester City win the Premier League title this season? No one said at the beginning of the season Leicester are going to be first in December. It’s hard when we lose a game, for the players and Jose [Mourinho]. “We just play like we always do and see what we can do”.