Rodgers relishes ‘perfect’ season finale
LONDON: Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers shrugged off Sunday’s 3-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur and believes the Premier League finale at home to Manchester United is “perfect” as both try to seal a Champions League spot.
When Leicester won eight successive league games between October and December they looked odds-on for a top-four finish and even looked capable of chasing Liverpool for the title.
But they have fallen away badly, winning only five times in the league in 2020 and they are in real danger of missing out on a Champions League berth.
They remain fourth but are level on 62 points with fifth-placed United who can open up a three-point lead if they beat West Ham United in their game in hand.
United could also establish a goal difference advantage with a healthy win over West Ham (they are both +28), but Rodgers believes it will all come down to the last game of the season.
“It will be absolutely perfect. It will be all in,” said Rodgers, whose side have been hit by injuries to James Maddison and Ben Chilwell since the resumption.
“The players have been fantastic. We’ve got one last opportunity. Whatever the result was today, we needed a result next week [Sunday].”
Had anyone said last August that Leicester would be in with a chance of the top four with one game remaining, the club’s fans would have gladly signed up for that scenario.
But now it would be a body blow to miss out.
Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho said the club are lucky to have striker Harry Kane, who scored twice against Leicester, and that the England skipper “would not be so special” at another team.
Kane, who recovered from a hamstring tendon issue during the threemonth Covid-19 shutdown, looked back to his best with two quality goals as Spurs defeated Leicester City 3-0.
The 26-year-old had signed a six-year contract extension in 2018 but told Sky Sports in March he could leave if they do not progress in the right direction.
“I think everyone thinks he’s a fantastic player and Tottenham are so lucky to have him because he’s the player, the person and the Tottenham boy,” Mourinho told reporters.
“All this together makes him really a special player for us that probably would not be so special playing for another team. He’s really special for us, he’s really special for Tottenham.”