City Push for Last Four Berth with Leicester Visit

Manchester City are close to achieving UEFA Champions League qualification for next term as they welcome outgoing Premier League champions Leicester City today. The Foxes' bubble has burst this season after the heroics which led to title celebrations 12 months ago. However, they have recovered their form in recent weeks

the players respond under interim manager Craig Shakespeare. When Pep Guardiola took his City side Leicester in December, the champions rose from the ashes of a poor start to the campaign and crushed the Sky Blues.

A 4-2 scoreline only told half of the story as City were dismantled by the Foxes' traditional English game.

Guardiola has chopped and changed his selection since that heavy loss, and the emergence of Gabriel Jesus has given his manager a fresh and vibrant option in attack.

Sergio Aguero and John Stones face late fitness tests before the game, but Guardiola has minimal new issues to deal with in terms of his selection.

The Foxes will be without captain Wes Morgan, who has a hamstring problem. Danny Drinkwater, Molla Wague and Nampalys Mendy have been confirmed as missing the fixture, per the same source.

The recent return of Jesus from injury will allow Guardiola the chance to give him minutes before the start of next season, but the Brazil international has adapted quickly to the Premier League.

Squawka Football highlighted the 20-year-old's potential:

Jamie Vardy has been widely responsible for Leicester's dramatic improvement after the sacking of former boss Claudio Ranieri, but the England international has suffered a difficult season like many of his team-mates.

The 30-year-old's statistics have recovered in recent weeks, scoring 11 goals in 31 appearances in the Premier League this term, per Squawka, but the striker has not shown his best form until recently.

Leicester will be relieved to get this season over and done with, and they will be relieved to have avoided relegation when it appeared a real possibility earlier in the season.

The Foxes are now ninth in the table, which represents a remarkable recovery, and a positive result at City will give them a foundation to build again for next season.

Shakespeare has turned the ship around at the King Power Stadium and deserves a chance to begin pre-season as permanent head coach.

Meanwhile, Liverpool visit West Ham, a team they have not beaten in five encounters.

Asked how Liverpool would feel if they missed out on a place in the top four, where they have spent the vast bulk of the season, vice-captain James Milner said: "Sick."

"This is a team and a club that needs to be in the Champions League," he added. We have got to win the last two and see where that takes us."

Arsenal, three points below City in fifth place after Wednesday's 2-0 win at Southampton, and Manchester United, a point further back in sixth, are both reliant on their rivals dropping points.

Meanwhile, Hull City's final two Premier League games are equivalent to Champions League finals as the club fight to avoid relegation, on-loan defender Andrea Ranocchia has said ahead of Sunday's encounter against Crystal Palace.

Hull's 2-0 loss to Sunderland last week left them one point adrift of safety in 18th position and they travel to 16th-placed