Brendan Rodgers has told his Leicester players to be courageous and clinical when they take on a "virtually press-resistant" Manchester City side on Boxing Day.
Rodgers has had his admirers at the Etihad Stadium for years, and his Leicester side have inflicted a number of painful defeats on City; in this fixture last season they scored two more than any other side managed all season in a 5-2 thumping that left Pep Guardiola demoralised.
Leicester have shown they can still be prolific - they netted three at Anfield in their league cup quarter-final this week - but keeping them out has been more of a challenge this season. The Foxes have a poor defensive record, particularly from set-pieces, and while they have not had much luck with injuries they still expect to be higher up the table than the ninth place they currently occupy.
City are the form team in the division having won their last eight in a row, although it remains to be seen whether their rest in midweek will have improved them further or checked their momentum. Rodgers is well aware of how good the Blues can be, and needs his players to have the conviction to keep their nerve on and off the ball if they are to pull off another surprise victory.
“I think you see from the game at Liverpool we can score goals, we are creative, but we have to see what we have available at the weekend and we will try to come up with a plan to get a result,” he said.
“We went there last season and got a fantastic win. You know the challenge you are up against: they will dominate the ball and are good in transition and have the confidence to play so that’s the challenge at the weekend.
“They have top players, not too many injuries. They can rotate and change and they are playing their game, a high-level positioning game. They are virtually press-resistant, they can play through pressure and when you sit deep they have players of real intelligence to find spaces.
“You have to play with courage, and when you have the ball you have to exploit the spaces.”
