Table-topping Foxes ready to attack, says Rodgers
BRENDAN RODGERS said Leicester were “ready to “attack the season again” after two wins from their opening two Premier League matches eased the pain of a disappointing end to last season.
The former champions are top of the table on goal difference after beating Burnley 4-2 yesterday.
It was the 100th victory for Rodgers in the Premier League in his 210th game – Alex Ferguson, Kenny Dalglish and Kevin Keegan are the only British managers to have reached the landmark in fewer matches.
Leicester lost out on a Champions League spot on the final day of the last campaign after a poor run when football resumed following the coronavirus shutdown.
“It (starting well), was always going to be important because there can be a hangover, if you don’t address it,” said Rodgers.
“But we spoke about it in our short pre-season period and felt ready to move on.
“The players have good motivation, they’ve scored seven goals in two games and it shows we’re ready to attack the season again.”
Yesterday was the first time Leicester had ended the day at the top of the table since they won the title in 2015/16, but the Northern
Irishman said it was far early to describe them as potential challengers.
“It’s only two games. After 10 games you start to get an idea of where the League is at,“said Rodgers. “We’re not even thinking about that (a sustained challenge).
“We’re looking to develop the team and the experiences of last season, both in the league and the cup, will really enrich us.
“Whatever way it finished last season we still had a fantastic season to finish where we did (fifth).
Leicester had to came from behind to maintain their 100% start against Burnley at the King Power Stadium.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Chelsea 0 Liverpool 2 (Mane 50, 54), Newcastle 0 Brighton 3 (Maupay 4-pen, 7, Connolly 83), Southampton 2 (Ings 32, 90-pen) Tottenham 5 (Son 45+3, 47, 64, 73, Kane 82), Leicester 4 (Barnes 20, Pieters 50-og, Justin 61, Praet 79) Burnley 2 (Wood 10, Dunne 73).
CHAMPIONSHIP: Stoke 0 Bristol City 2.
LA LIGA: Huesca 0 Cadiz 2 (Negredo 11, Pombo 83), Granada 2 (Soldado 7, Machis 79) Alaves 1 (Joselu 22), Real Betis 2 (Fekir 10-pen, Carvalho 18)
Chris Wood opened the scoring for Sean Dyche’s under-strength side, firing into the bottom left corner after outmuscling home defender James Justin at the far post.
But the Foxes, who enjoyed the majority of possession, immediately responded with Harvey Barnes’ placed effort drawing them level.
Erik Pieters’ own goal put the hosts ahead after the break with Justin doubling their advantage.
Top-flight debutant Jimmy Dunne raised hopes of a Burnley recovery when he headed in Dwight McNeil’s left-wing delivery, but Dennis Praet’s superb 20-yard strike goalkeepers in the world as Alisson showed by saving Jorginho’s penalty yesterday having had barely anything to do for the first 75 minutes.
“Even at 2-0, we could have scored more but we didn’t and the game is open,” said Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
“We produce the penalty, I’m not sure I would have given it, then Ali had to make the save.
“This is a proper team performance, everybody had to work hard.”
Commenting to liverpoolfc.com on Mane’s opening goal, Klopp said: “The first goal was a nice piece of football, everybody involved pretty much. Firmino cross and then Sadio comes in front of his man, so it’s really difficult to defend.
“I love it when we get the rewards for these kind of situations. Good goal and gave the game the right direction. That’s exactly what we have to show all the time, that’s what we wanted to show today.
“I saw us today, I saw
us playing
Valladolid 0, Real Sociedad 0 Real Madrid 0.
SERIE A: Parma 0 Napoli 2 (Mertens 63, Insigne 77), Genoa 4 (Destro 6, Pandev 9, Zappacosta 34, Pjaca 75) Crotone 1 (Riviere 28), Sassuolo 1 (Bourabia 87) Cagliari 1 (Simeone 77), Juventus 3 (Kulusevski 13, Bonucci 78, Ronaldo 88) Sampdoria 0.
LIGUE 1: Nantes 2 Saint-Etienne 2, Nice 0 Paris Saint-Germain 3, Brest 3 Lorient 2, Metz 2 Reims 1, Montpellier 4 Angers 1, Strasbourg 1 Dijon 0, Marseille 1 Lille 1. into the top-right corner put the gloss on Leicester’s win.
While Burnley’s determination and desire was admirable, in the end it proved no match for Leicester’s fluid attacking play and extra sharpness.
The home side controlled the ball throughout with Barnes and Belgian midfielder Praet coming to the fore on the left of midfield.
Barnes’ movement and pace was a key ingredient of Leicester’s attacking play.
“Harvey Barnes was outstanding tonight,” Rodgers told the BBC. “He keeps on getting into areas you want him to and is a big talent.” – Reuters/Agencies football today and
I ’ m completely fine with that. I loved it.”
Chelsea have spent big and looked to the future in the signings of Timo
Werner, Hakim
Ziyech, Kai
Havertz and Ben
Chilwell.
But without a world-class keeper behind them, they still do not have the foundations of a title contender. – AFP/ Reuters/Agencies