Revealed: Manchester City's squad is worth £150m more and brag 76 major honours, but can Leicester defy the gulf?
The indomitable leaders head into the top-of-the-table clash following an impressive 2-0 dismantling of Liverpool
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Your support makes all the difference.Leicester City can continue to write themselves into lore this weekend if they emerge from Manchester City victorious.
The indomitable Premier League leaders head into the top-of-the-table clash following an impressive 2-0 dismantling of Liverpool on Tuesday night, courtesy of Jamie Vardy’s rocketed half-volley from 33 yards.
No matter how hard City try, on the other hand, they have seldom succeeded in bettering Leicester so far this season. Manuel Pellegrini’s men have been forced to play the unfamiliar role of warm-up act in previous weeks.
Supposing both sides field the same starting line-ups as they did in midweek, there will be over £150m between the value of the two starting XIs at the Etihad on Saturday afternoon. Then there's the small matter of City's combined 76 major honours. Robert Huth's pair of Premier League medals from his spell at Chelsea barely scratch the surface. Yet it is Claudio Ranieri’s clutch of misfits and bargain buys who sit atop of the table, sweeping their rivals aside with stunning composure.
Vardy’s 18 goals may be the headline for Leicester but the emergence of Riyad Mahrez, Danny Drinkwater and N’Golo Kante are all stories worthy of the Hollywood treatment also. The question on everybody’s lips is a simple one. Can Leicester defeat Pellegrini’s thoroughbreds and surge even further ahead?
“We will try to do our best,” Ranieri said this week. “Saturday will be a fantastic match. We will try to enjoy it, and try to win. We believe we are working well. From now until the end there are only tough matches.”
But how do the two sides compare?
Pellegrini, meanwhile, insists he is not distracted by the news Pep Guardiola will replace him at the end of the season. "My future is my present, I try to win the next game and focus just on what we are doing," he said after the 1-0 win at Sunderland.
"I've just said what will happen in June, but I am not thinking about the future because I never do it. So for me it is very important now to focus on our next game, which is Leicester at home, who is the leader, and we will try and be top of the table and to try and finish every successful season."
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