Win is a confidence booster
PEACEFUL PREPARATION FOR CITY AFTER VICTORY AT OLD TRAFFORD
LEICESTER City have been able to prepare for the FA Cup final “peacefully” after beating Manchester United this week, midfielder Youri Tielemans has said.
City arrived at Old Trafford on the back of two underwhelming results in drawing with Southampton and losing to Newcastle.
But they now head to Wembley on the back of one of their biggest wins of the season, Luke Thomas and Caglar Soyuncu getting the goals that earned them three points at Old Trafford.
That has put City in a different frame of mind, allowing them to approach Chelsea with confidence, rather than worrying about their form.
“We have a cup final to prepare for now,” Tielemans told the club. “It’s going to be a very, very interesting end of the season and a very interesting three games.
“It gives a boost for our confidence, of course, because if you win against a good team, you get some confidence for the game and you can prepare peacefully, let’s say.
“It will be like the whole season, all about recovery and preparing tactically for the game. It’s nothing that we’ve not done before.” While City grabbed a win in their final match before the cup final, the same cannot be said for Chelsea, who lost 1-0 at home to Arsenal on Wednesday night.
Jorginho’s wayward back pass helped set up Emile Smith Rowe for the only goal of the game, meaning Chelsea stay in fourth, one place and two points behind City in the table.
Now, no matter what happens around them, City know that if they beat the
Blues at Stamford
Bridge next Tuesday, they will be guaranteed a Champions League place. Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel made seven changes for the game to allow some of his players to rest before the cup final – but after the loss to Arsenal, he admitted that was a mistake.
“I’m a bit angry that we had so many changes, that’s on me,” said Tuchel.
“I’m not so happy in the end with the line-up, but I didn’t know what would happen, I didn’t feel us today like I normally do and we can’t expect to win games if we’re not 100 per cent in games.
“I’m not happy with what I saw, I have my responsibility because I picked the line-up, but the performance was the performance.”
It will be about recovery and preparing tactically, nothing we’ve not done before
Youri Tielemans, right