Not many would have predicted a top of the table clash between Leicester City and Manchester United at this stage of the season but Claudio Ranieri’s side have taken the EPL by storm with their entertaining brand of football.
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Andy Gray and Richard Keys who front beIN Sports’ Premier League coverage discuss Saturday’s game.
Andy Gray: Not even the biggest Leicester City fan, the owner, CEO, Claudio Ranieri, Jamie Vardy, captain Wes Morgan, Kasper Schmeichel, not even all their most positive thoughts all clubbed together would have come anywhere near believing that they would be top of the league at this stage of the season.
The Foxes are there thanks to the power of positive thinking and playing every game as if it is their last. They would be first to admit that they have ridden their luck at times but in amongst all that graft, never-say-die attitude, they have a really good goalkeeper in Schmeichel, huge experience at the back, big talent in Riyad Mahrez and Marc Albrighton who was foolishly allowed to leave by Aston Villa, Jeff Schlupp who creates things, and at the top end of the pitch, the most important thing right now, they have the best goalscorer in the league in Vardy.
I think Nigel Pearson is responsible for a lot of what Leicester are about right now but it would be unfair to say it’s all about the work he did. You can’t walk into a club and take over a bunch of players you don’t know and take them to the top of the Premier League after 13 games, which Ranieri has done, if you don’t know what you are doing.
Ranieri, wisely, did not make any drastic changes when he came in and although he has the reputation as Tinkerman he has made a few changes, he hasn’t really disturbed the fabric of what was there at the end of last season.
It’s not often that I would look at a Leicester v Man United fixture and say Leicester are favourites but we saw what United are about when they delivered a poor, unexciting performance against PSV in the Champions League so Ranieri’s side, playing the way they are, have a real chance of winning this.
The only thing I would say is that there have only been two teams who have failed to score against Leicester this season in 13 games, Newcastle last week and Crystal Palace but they are at the top because they are creating chances and scoring goals.
Jamie Vardy’s first #BPL goal came in Leicester’s home match against Man Utd last season… #LEIMUN pic.twitter.com/EapopXDHvf
— Premier League (@premierleague) November 28, 2015
Leicester are showing us a way of playing football that the fans want to see and I love that. Look, I don’t think they can win the title but I tell you what, if we get to 19 games played and they are still first or second then the Champions League is not out of the question.
Louis van Gaal is going to find a team trying to do to him at home what Man United have been doing to teams at Old Trafford for 25 years. As soon as the whistle goes Leicester are going to rip into them, there is going to be a pace about them, creativity and Schmeichel in goal – sounds like United of yesteryear doesn’t it.
The one thing United have done reasonably well this year is defend so if they can cope with the energy of Ranieri’s side they might get a point. 1-1.
Richard Keys: I really thought that at this stage of the season Ranieri would have lost his job and Leicester would be going nowhere fast.
I thought it was a calamitous error to fire Nigel Pearson and that they would pay a price for appointing Ranieri who has had many jobs, most of which have been a spectacular failure, although there have been isolated successes.
But in fairness, he has gone into Leicester, seen what he has got, stuck with it and now has a team that has belief and are great to watch.
I don’t think United will be able to handle the way Leicester play. Vardy’s pace will frighten them to death. As Andy says, Mahrez is having a great season and this team never stops fighting.
If United think they can go to Leicester, stroke the ball around and get a result they are sadly mistaken. Frankly, I think everything I have been saying about Van Gaal is coming home to roost in that he is not the right fit for United.
They have an obligation to entertain, it’s in their DNA, and for them to serve up that terrible performance in Europe in midweek, on the 10th anniversary of George Best’s death, was a slap in the face for everybody who has lived by that mantra. 2-1.
