He said: “I hope Leicester win the league”.
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Even in good form, and even sitting two points ahead of Spurs and five ahead of Arsenal, Ranieri said on Monday his side are the fourth favourites behind Spurs, Arsenal and Manchester City.
It was Costa’s eighth goal in his last 10 league games for Chelsea, who had to fight off a late rally by Norwich after the hosts pulled a goal back through winger Nathan Redmond on 68 minutes.
“We have to continue to play our football, be intelligent, and take the right moment”.
Strikers Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki both crashed headers against the crossbar, while substitute Leonardo Ulloa was unable to repeat Saturday’s match-winning heroics as a late chance went begging.
“Everyone would like to play, but it’s not possible”. “They believe in the project and they believe their teammates are playing well”.
“I don’t see why they can’t do it. If they can keep the enthusiasm up and if they can get the breaks. It is not only three points, it means a lot more than three points because every time you play a derby like West Ham or Arsenal it is more important for our supporters and we feel the same”.
Leicester face Albion two points ahead of Tottenham in the league after Spurs’ 2-1 comeback victory over Swansea on Sunday with Arsenal five points behind after losing 3-2 at Manchester United.
“The way the team is set up, the balance of the team, the enthusiasm, the commitment they give, every Leicester City supporter should be proud of their team”.
“It was a fantastic match and I am very pleased with our performance”, said the Italian.
West Brom will also be forced into at least one change after Chris Brunt suffered a knee injury in their 3-2 home win against Crystal Palace. “We tried to do everything and well done to my players. I am only concerned at my team and I look at the table at the end of the season to see where we are”. “They only had a couple of shots and they scored”, King said.
The upstart Foxes have by far the best fixture list over the final ten games of the season, but the naysayers will come back out in force to claim that the unlikely title challenge is running out of steam. I understand we are the surprise, fantastic with good energy. We have to go the hard way. We must believe until the end. But if we are realistic the real competitors are the others’.
Gardner’s brilliant free-kick earned a battling draw for West Brom who are 13th in the table and 12 points clear of the bottom three.
Ranieri’s men strengthened their position at the summit of the Premier League with a dramatic last-gasp 1-0 victory over Norwich at the weekend.
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“We should have won the game. The hope is still there”.
