‘We are up against the champions’

LEICESTER City are taking on the Premier League champions this weekend, with manager Brendan Rodgers declaring the title race over with nine games to play.

City host Manchester City tomorrow evening with Pep Guardiola’s side 14 points clear at the top of the table as they bid to reclaim the title they lost to Liverpool last season.

Rodgers is certain they will lift the trophy come the end of May, declaring Guardiola as the best manager in the world and saying they have the capability to win an unprecedented quadruple, with the Carabao Cup, FA Cup, and Champions League also up for grabs.

However, that is not to say his side will roll over for the visitors.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt they will go on and win the league,” Rodgers told his press conference yesterday. “They’ve shown a great level of consistency.

“We, of course, want to make it as difficult as we possibly can because we want to finish as high as we can.

“Their consistency over a long period of this season sees them out in front and if they go on and win the league, they will be deserving of it.

“All the teams they have to play will want to make sure they have to fight and have to earn it, and they will expect that.”

City can take confidence into the game knowing they are one of just three teams to beat Guardiola’s men, claiming a 5-2 victory at the Etihad Stadium in September.

Rodgers is expecting a similar pattern to the game and will hope for a similar performance from his side.

“We went behind in the game – it was a brilliant goal by (Riyad) Mahrez – but importantly we kept our calmness and kept our strategy.

“What we did that day, we were efficient and ruthless in our finishing.”