They have the players going forward and Leicester will be a bit cagey.
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Ranieri believes Vardy, last season’s 24-goal top scorer, will be ready for Leicester’s trip to Liverpool on Saturday because he did not feature for his country but wants him to prove a point to new worldwide boss Allardyce. “It was a big shock to see it – a good one – and it’s much better than I could’ve imagined”.
In July, Liverpool reportedly submitted an official offer for Sporting Lisbon star Islam Slimani, and at the time, I argued that he’d probably reject the Reds for a Champions League team, and that’s exactly what happened; Slimani signed for Leicester, and according to Foxes boss Claudio Ranieri, the £30m record signing is ready to play against Liverpool tomorrow.
The 115 million pounds (US$153 million, 135.9 million euros) project obliged Liverpool to play their first three fixtures away from home and they picked up only four points on their travels.
“Of course it is important to score a goal for strikers because it is their life but for me it is important that the performance impress a lot and the first half was very, very outstanding for us”.
The 29-year-old was instrumental in Leicester’s title triumph last term as he bagged 24 Premier League goals and subsequently became a regular under Roy Hodgson with England. But as long as we’re together, we have to be happy.
Manager Jurgen Klopp is confident Liverpool can bridge the gap to the Premier League’s big-spenders and promised to give their top-four rivals “hell” this season.
After thrilling 4-3 victory against Arsenal on the MD1, Liverpool won only one point in the following two games. We didn’t win the title because we are lucky.
As for the champions, Leicester slowly gathered momentum and it feels like the global break came in the worst possible moment for Ranieri’s players. “They could, but also Leicester could win”. “Our strength is our spirit”.
However, City now face a run of seven games in three competitions in just 23 days, starting at Liverpool, and on Wednesday make their Champions League debut at Club Brugge.
Whether Ranieri’s thoughts on Liverpool’s title challenge is an honest observation or just mind games is unclear but there is no doubt about the fact that Jurgen Klopp’s team definitely has the potential and depth in the squad to achieve Premier League glory.
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“But I would say it now: it’s another season”. But now we have our first win, we can hopefully get up and running. But on paper, Leicester never should have won the league. You can go out at the first round. It certainly worked as City stormed to the Premier League title.
