Mourinho: Leicester could be champions

Chelsea could drop into the bottom three before kick-off – depending on results elsewhere – and the likelihood of the self-proclaimed Special One being out of a job would increase with a ninth loss in 16 games despite their European success in midweek.

Despite their struggling domestic form this season, Mourinho has remained largely popular amongst the club’s supporters, and the Portuguese mentor says it is somewhat embarrassing.

Think about how important this match was for Howe’s squad; if they lost to Chelsea then they would have been sitting 19th in the table on 10 points and three points behind Newcastle for 17th. In the next six games, Leicester play four teams in the top half of the table. They keep signing players of higher and higher profiles, so it is quite a bit different from the other two upsets, but an upset nonetheless.

When the sides met at the Kingpower Stadium on April 29, Chelsea won 3-1 to all but clinch the title and stall Leicester’s ultimately successful relegation escape bid.

Having lost the newly promoted Bournemouth in their last top flight outing a game against surprise league leaders Leicester will be the last thing that Chelsea wanted right now.

Drawing attention to their UEFA Champions League victory over FC Porto on Wednesday night, Ranieri highlighted the Blues’ quick movement and suggested that “they played very well”.

As optimistic as Joe Cole may be, the horrific start to the season means that the Blues face an uphill battle to even finish in the Champions League spots this season.

“All these things we are doing without a bigger reason behind it. We don’t want to get something back, so we are the people who give back. But that’s an old story and now my focus is on Leicester”, said Ranieri. There are 14 points between them and the top four, but I think they need to be judged on how many points they are off Leicester. Doesn’t matter the competition, we need to win matches, we need to win points. I’m very proud to have been their manager. We have basically the same potential as last season, we have the same manager, the same players, so if we are where we are it is because we are under-performing.

Riyad Mahrez, the Algerian worldwide who typifies Leicester City’s season, has dismissed their chances of winning the Premier League.