Claudio Ranieri: I don't believe the bookmakers

Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri refused to accept his team were now title favourites after their sensational 3-1 win at Manchester City.

Claudio Ranieri: I don't believe the bookmakers

Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri refused to accept his team were now title favourites after their sensational 3-1 win at Manchester City.

The surprise Barclays Premier League leaders opened up a six-point lead over Manuel Pellegrini’s men – the side many expect to take the crown – with a near-perfect display at the Etihad Stadium.

One leading bookmaker immediately made Leicester – 5,000/1 outsiders at the start of the season – the new 7/4 favourites for the title with City drifting to 9/4.

But Ranieri, aware he was the one-time favourite in the ’sack race’, said: “I don’t believe the bookmakers. At the beginning of the season the bookmakers said, ’sack Ranieri’. I hope one time they are right!”

Leicester were superb from the outset, taking a third-minute lead with the first of Robert Huth’s two goals and constantly troubling their illustrious hosts on the counter-attack.

With City failing to break down their stubborn defence, Riyad Mahrez doubled the lead with a fine strike early in the second half and Huth sent the visiting fans into dreamland on the hour.

Ranieri said: “It was a good performance. Difficult, because when you’re playing against a team like City, players with fantastic quality, it’s not easy but we concentrated very much.

“We wanted to try to win, without pressure, just enjoy the match, and try to do our best. I think the first goal was very good for our confidence and then we closed all the space.”

Leicester may now be in pole position but they face another tough test against Arsenal next week and Ranieri is refusing to think about winning the title.

He said: “This season is a crazy league, I don’t know why. I don’t think about if we win the league, I don’t want to think about it.

“My mind goes over the next seven days – Arsenal, another tough match, other fantastic players, another fantastic stadium.

“But we’re alive and we want to fight. I hope we concentrate as well as in these last matches to continue our dream.”

Opposite number Pellegrini, whose side managed only a late consolation through Sergio Aguero, was impressed by Leicester but claimed the title race was far from over.

He said: “If they continue the way they are playing they are favourites. They are doing well and have an advantage in points. We played against a very good team and it is fair to give them merit.

“But it just depends on what they can do from now until the end of the season. Having to play 13 games more is very difficult to predict.

“It was our chance at home to recover the lead in the table. We couldn’t do it and now we are six points behind Leicester, but we have another 39 points to play for so it is important to be focused game by game and try to beat Tottenham here, as they are another team fighting for the title.

“We’ll see what happens between Arsenal and Leicester. There are too many things that can happen with 39 points more to play for – but this was a defeat we didn’t expect.”

The game was City’s first at home since it was announced Pellegrini would be replaced in the summer by Pep Guardiola. The club hoped making the news public - as it had seemed an open secret – would galvanise the team for the rest of the season but it did not immediately have that effect.

But Pellegrini said: “I think I talked too much about last week. I don’t think it is fair to try to have excuses for other things.”

more courts articles

Man (25) in court charged with murdering his father and attempted murder of mother Man (25) in court charged with murdering his father and attempted murder of mother
Man appears in court charged with false imprisonment of woman in van Man appears in court charged with false imprisonment of woman in van
Man in court over alleged false imprisonment of woman Man in court over alleged false imprisonment of woman

More in this section

Republic of Ireland Training Session and Media Conference Ogbene ruled out for 'few weeks'
Chelsea v Leicester City - Barclays Women's Super League - Kingsmeadow Willie Kirk sacked as Leicester boss after position became ‘untenable’
St Patrick's Athletic v Shelbourne - SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division Damien Duff: 'The leading light of Irish football is not the national team but the league itself'
Sport Push Notifications

By clicking on 'Sign Up' you will be the first to know about our latest and best sporting content on this browser.

Sign Up
Sport
Newsletter

Latest news from the world of sport, along with the best in opinion from our outstanding team of sports writers

Sign up
Cookie Policy Privacy Policy Brand Safety FAQ Help Contact Us Terms and Conditions

© Examiner Echo Group Limited