KEOWN ON THE

THIS CAN BE THE NEXT STEP IN THE RODGERS REVOLUTION...

LEICESTER against Chelsea in the FA Cup; third against fourth in the Premier League; Brendan Rodgers against Frank Lampard. I expect this to be a tight tie between two fiercely ambitious managers who walked different paths to get to this point. Lampard is the former Chelsea player who has enjoyed a rapid rise to become their boss — getting the gig after a season in charge of Derby County in the Championship. He has really proven his talent along the way and his dealings in the transfer market suggest he is in a hurry to win trophies. Rodgers, on the other hand, is the former Chelsea coach who managed Watford, Reading, Swansea, Liverpool and Celtic, where he built a reputation as a winner. That was where he earned his stripes before landing the job as Leicester manager. In recent seasons they may have looked like a ‘feeder club’, forever at risk of losing their top talents to ‘bigger’ teams. But that is a perception Rodgers is changing and with him in charge they can start keeping hold of their best players. Ben Chilwell is being heavily linked with other clubs — including Chelsea, who will get to take a closer look at him tomorrow — and Wilfred Ndidi, Youri Tielemens and James Maddison, all 23, are other excellent assets. Harvey Barnes, their 22-year-old winger, is another of their players who is on the rise. These are talents who have become so much better under Rodgers. Even Jamie Vardy, at the age of 33, is looking like an improved player, with his link-up play and the positions he takes up. He is the figurehead in their attack and still as quick as ever. Only Liverpool have executed and scored from more fast breaks than Leicester this season and Vardy’s shotconversion rate is currently the best that it’s ever been.

N’Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez left after their famous Premier League title win in 2015-16 but Vardy turned down the big move and we may see more players at Leicester do the same under Rodgers. Naturally, what would help convince their big names that Leicester is the right club for them is silverware and Champions League qualification and both of those are in their hands. That is the next step for Rodgers — to lift a trophy in England after so much success in Scotland. Tomorrow’s tie is a chance for Leicester to right the wrongs of their

EFL Cup exit. They got to the semi-finals of that competition earlier this season but lost to Aston Villa in agonising circumstances over two legs. Rodgers will feel that was a big opportunity lost. But now they have a second chance at getting to Wembley and it is Lampard and his Chelsea side standing in the way.

5 RODGERS has won five domestic cups in his managerial career and all of them were with Celtic — the Scottish Cup in 2016-17 and 2017-18 and the Scottish League Cup in 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.

4 LEICESTER have lost four FA Cup finals — the most by any team that have never won the competition. They lost in 1949, 1961, 1963 and 1969.