In a season when football has seen a changing of the guard, it would be fitting if Claudio Ranieri and his men won their first Premier League crown at Manchester United, the club who have dominated English football in the last 25 years.
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Second-placed Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with West Brom on Monday closed the gap to seven points but their failure to win means Leicester only need three points from their final three games to take the title.
And as Leicester look to take the final step towards glory, the excitement in the city is booming and several fans were keen to express their admiration for Ranieri. ‘I say with my heart, we try to do our best but if the others are better than us, I want to say only “congratulations”.
The Argentinian contributed a brace, and together with strikes from newly-crowned Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez and Marc Albrighton, the Foxes recorded their biggest win of the season. “We are so close and we are going to continue to fight”. “We miss Jamie Vardy because he is a good player, but we can still play well and I enjoy playing with this team and with these team-mates”.
“I tell to my players always that it’s not important the result, it’s important the performance”, he added.
Leicester will win the Premier League if they beat Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday but Ranieri cautioned the fixture is against a risky team. Football is a team game.
“This is a dream for Leicester and I understand a few weeks ago why Claudio had tears (at Sunderland)”. But if I’m wrong and Leicester are dismantled during the summer transfer window then they can forget a Champions League run and, far from top six, they may struggle to finish in the top half.
“We have to improve on conceding goals. It is a problem of the team”.
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Leicester City midfielder Jeffrey Schlupp is delighted to have made his first league start for the club in five months. If Leicester lose the next game, you just never know, with the pressure. “Sometimes I score, sometimes Vardy scores and sometimes Leo scores, but we are a team”.
