Foxes’ home comforts
LEICESTER boss Claudio Ranieri has called on the champions to maintain their home dominance.
The Foxes have not lost at the King Power Stadium in the Premier League since September 2015, a club-record 18-match unbeaten run.
Their last defeat came in a 5-2 defeat to Arsenal, 371 days ago, and they host Southampton on Sunday aiming for a third straight home league win.
While Leicester have been beaten by Tottenham and Chelsea in cup competitions in 2016, Ranieri has lost just 14 of 96 Premier League home matches with former club Chelsea and the Foxes combined, and he is eager to stretch the latter’s run.
He said: “I hope to continue not making mistakes at home. This match is very important though. We have to be careful.
“We have to make sure we continue to be solid at home and we need to improve away. Maybe we’ve made some little mistakes away but I spoke with the players and they understood my ideas and why we made the mistakes.
“I’m happy because when our fans come to the King Power Stadium it’s good, they say, ‘At home we’re very strong’, and that’s good.”
The Foxes beat Porto 1-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday and Ranieri wants them to bring their European form into the league after suffering three defeats already this season.
He added: “We are up and down. In the Premier League we are so-so but in the Champions League we are good. I want the consistency – that was one of the keys of last season so I want to see the same spirit of the last match.”