Ranieri revels in Leicester charge

Klopp and Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger are the two managers to beat the Foxes, and Liverpool’s German boss is a self-confessed fan of their style of play under Claudio Ranieri.

Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester travel to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday as league leaders, three points clear of their opponents.

Despite the stakes, Ranieri was bullish when asked if the match would be an open encounter, Ranieri was adamant that both teams will go for all three points rather than play defensively.

You can not think you’re champion if you win and if you lose, there are lots more points.

Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City have all been credited with an interest in the player.

He said: “I’m very anxious for a lot of things”.

City, though, will want to send a message to Leicester’s upstarts and collect a fourth straight win in all competitions to take over in first place on goal difference. “We were only here for the result and I saw our good moments, but they were not often enough”. We know it’s a tough match but from now there will only be tough matches.

But Pellegrini, who received a rapturous response from City supporters during Tuesday’s victory at Sunderland, looks sure to dominate proceedings on Saturday when he appears before his home crowd for the first time since his departure was confirmed. The new deal will keep the player at King Power Stadium until the summer of 2019. After playing a straight bat to a series of questions about Leicester’s title prospects, the 64-year-old was asked whether it was becoming more hard to play down their chances of winning the league as the weeks go by and they continue to set the pace.

The German felt his players could have taken something from the game but ultimately their decision making cost them. “After Christmas, we were a little exhausted but now they’re getting better”, he said.

If you don’t have Sky, or can’t get to a TV that does, or fancy second-screening, we’ll be running a live blog with plenty of buildup and match analysis for you. Now they have the league’s best winger in Riyad Mahrez, one of the league’s two-best strikers in Jamie Vardy and easily the best holding midfielder in N’Golo Kante.

“You have to be there [as a goalkeeper] to help the team out and so I was happy at 0-0 at half-time but second half he scored a great goal”.