Ranieri labels Leicester as Premier League’s Forrest Gump

Mahrez, who joined Leicester from French second-tier side Le Havre for an undisclosed fee in January 2014, has formed an exciting partnership with Jamie Vardy, who is the leading Premier League goalscorer this term with 15.

Claudio Ranieri has compared his Leicester City players to the film character Forrest Gump because they never stop running.

Accompanied by the catch-phrase: “Run, Forrest, run”, Gump makes the College Football All-America Team and later does a three-year coast-tocoast marathon.

“All the world are speaking about you, continue to play how you are doing”.

They go to Liverpool on Boxing Day and then host title rivals Manchester City on Tuesday having lost just once this season.

Ranieri’s men ensured the Christmas number one spot with a 3-2 win over Everton – Riyad Mahrez’s brace and a Shinji Okazaki strike maintaining Leicester’s incredible season before Arsenal moved within two points of top spot with victory over Manchester City on Monday.

“I’m feeling good and I want to play because it’s a big game”, said Benteke.

Of the 20 previous 20-team Premier League campaigns, half of the sides that topped the table after 17 games went on to lift the title – with five of the last six champions sitting in first place at this stage.

‘The only way I can see Leicester being derailed is if they pick up a few long-term injuries, because they don’t have the depth of some of the other, richer clubs. “Watford were in good form last weekend and played like they wanted to play, while we made it hard for ourselves”.

While Leicester’s early season form has been remarkable, it is last season’s dramatic escape from relegation under former manager Nigel Pearson that has given Ranieri hope.

Arsene Wenger’s side look the complete package at the moment, and with the likes of Laurent Koscielny, Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud at the top of their game, another win looks likely. It had been 11 years since he had managed in England with Chelsea – during which he was often labeled “The Tinkerman” for constantly changing the starting lineup – and he had been out of work since an embarrassing spell in charge of the Greece national team. We know very well our stamina is good and as long as our stamina is good we can continue to fight against anybody.

Putting aside their normal love of all things red, two of the city’s Labour MPs were also enthusiastic in their praise for the team in blue. That s what we believe.