Agen Bola TerperCaya EURO 2016 ~ Claudio Ranieri will rely on Riyad Mahrez
to light up Leicester’s title bid and has told him to seek protection
off their towering defenders if Swansea give him fresh flak.
Leicester
’s outstanding Algerian attacking ace Mahrez, 25, was this week
short-listed by the PFA for the Premier League player of the year award.
He has 16 goals and 11 assists this term – including a hat-trick at the Liberty Stadium against the Swans in December.
His feats riled Swansea - especially skipper Ashley Williams - and with
revenge in the air Ranieri knows Leicester will need Mahrez more than
ever on Sunday with top scorer Jamie Vardy suspended.
Ranieri said: “He is fantastic, Riyad is our light. When he switches on, wow, Leicester change colour – that is the truth.
“Without
our goal-scorer it is not easy to play. We give everytime the maximum
but I am sure we will give a little more to win the match.”
Mahrez’s
performance against Swansea drove the hosts crazy as Williams lost his
cool and angrily sought out Mahrez post-match to confront him.
Williams even tried to storm the Leicester bus, to get to Mahrez, as he was so angry.
Ranieri,
ahead of Sunday’s game which will be officiated by Mark Clattenburg,
insisted: “It is another match. When the game is finished, everything is
finished.
“If something happens, I call Riyad and say: ‘Stay between Robert Huth and Wes Morgan and Marcin Wasilewski - come on!
“But Mark Clattenburg is a fantastic referee, I have no problem.”
Ranieri
openly admitted for the first time yesterday the Foxes can win the
league despite being 5,000-1 outsiders at the start of the season.
Nonton Bioskop Film Semi ~ He
has previously set his side short-term targets including initially 40
points to survive, then Europa League qualification then Champions
League qualification.
But now, after securing a place in
the Champions League group stages, Ranieri has told his side to go
all-out to complete a fairytale triumph.
Ranieri stressed he couldn’t pinpoint a specific moment when he felt
Leicester became title contenders but stressed their consistency has
been key.
He added: “My focus was and is about the next match and to check very well our attitude and how we play in every match.
“It is about the consistency all the season. I am very very glad for our consistency.
“I didn’t understand what happened last season when after the victory against Manchester United there were several (11) defeats.
“Why? What happened? I was very focused on this, I don’t want my players relaxing. Every match is important.
“When one match is past you look what you are doing well and what was wrong and try to improve.
“This is my philosophy about football.”
Ranieri acknowledges England striker Vardy will be a big loss tomorrow after scoring 22 goals and having six assists.
He must now weigh up whether to start targetman Leonardo Ulloa, who has four goals this term.
But Ranieri could opt for a like-for-like replacement by starting the pacey Jeff Schlupp.
“Without
Vardy we have to make some other strategy,” said Ranieri. “Leo deserves
to play but before Leo there is the team and I think about what is the
best for the team.”