1. Foxes begin life after Ranieri
THE FOOTBALL WORLD is still coming to terms with Leicester City’s decision to sack Claudio Ranieri — a man who led the Foxes to an unimaginable first Premier League title just nine months ago.
The Italian’s assistant, Craig Shakespeare, has been handed the role on a caretaker basis and he insisted in this afternoon’s press conference that there was no player revolt in the dressing room.
Whatever the case may be, the Foxes have been in appalling form of late and sit just one point above the drop zone ahead of Liverpool’s visit to the King Power Stadium on Monday night.
With 13 league matches remaining, the struggling champions need to start turning things around sooner rather than later. They have one win from nine in all competitions (against Derby County) in the FA Cup and face a Reds side who will have had two weeks’ rest since the impressive victory over Tottenham.
2. Can Clement return to haunt his old club?
Paul Clement spent nine years in two stints at Chelsea. He worked as academy coach and first team coach before becoming assistant manager under Carlo Ancelotti and winning the double in 2010.
The Englishman, who had a brief spell as Ireland U21 coach, went on join to Ancelotti at Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, but returns to Stamford Bridge as manager of Swansea on Saturday afternoon with another Blues old boy by his side — Claude Makelele.
Clement’s arrival has sparked an upturn in fortunes for the Swans, and they have climbed out of the relegation places to put four points between themselves and the bottom three.
That said, even he would admit avoiding defeat against the current leaders, who are eight points clear at the top, will need a trojan effort from his players and a large slice of luck.
3. Black Cats home from the Big Apple
Sunderland boss David Moyes felt his players needed a change of scenery after their 4-0 thumping at the hands of Southampton a fortnight ago and took the squad off to New York for some mid-season bonding.
The decision was questioned but I guess you can’t blame the guy for attempting to rebuild some much-needed team spirit. Rooted to the bottom of the table, the Black Cats have just one win from their last eight league encounters and travel to their manager’s old stomping ground on Saturday.
Contrastingly, the Toffees haven’t been beaten in the top flight since the Merseyside derby back in December. Their top scorer Romelu Lukaku is one goal away from equalling Duncan Ferguson’s Premier League record of 60 and returns after a calf problem.
4. Tottenham look to get back on track
Spurs will attempt to shake off their Europa League hangover on Sunday when they entertain Stoke at White Hart Lane. Mauricio Pochettino’s men went crashing out of the competition in midweek — losing 3-2 to Gent on aggregate after Dele Alli’s horrendous tackle saw them go down to ten men.
So attention turns back to the league and efforts to potentially leapfrog Manchester City into second by claiming at home to Stoke on Sunday. They were 4-0 winners over the Potters when the sides met back in September with Alli, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min among the goals.
5. Mourinho made to pay for Mkhitaryan gamble
It’s a weekend away from league action for both Manchester United and Southampton, who face off in the EFL Cup final at Wembley. The tie is a repeat of the 1976 FA Cup final, when the Saints picked up their first and only major trophy to-date thanks to a late winner from Bobby Stokes.
Man United, who eased into the last-16 of the Europa League where they will take on Russian club FC Rostov, are without the influential Henrikh Mkhitaryan for the game as he suffered a hamstring injury in Wednesday’s win over St Etienne.
After confirming he wouldn’t be leaving the club this season, captain Wayne Rooney is available along with Michael Carrick, who had been a doubt.
Southampton’s Irish striker Shane Long has come into a bit of goalscoring form with four in all competitions since the turn of the year — including a winner against Liverpool to send Claude Puel’s men into the final. That bodes well with the World Cup qualifier against Wales around the corner.
Originally published Friday at 18.15
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