The war of words has begun between Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger and Leicester City’s Claudio Ranieri before the two clash at the Emirates on Sunday. Wenger kicked off the mind games saying Leicester have too much time to think between matches since they are not playing in any other cup competition.
“Time to think (in between games) can be a disadvantage if you are not thinking in a positive way and the pressure is on” stated the Frenchman in a press conference on Friday. It is true that sometimes the less time you have to wait for the next game, the better it is” he added.
Arsen Wenger’s comment is surprising given how difficult teams find it to balance both the Premier League and cup competitions while trying to rotate the squad. Ranieri though came up with a smart reply to his comments saying, "When they are playing in the cups we will go to the sea, make some swimming and sit in the sunshine”.
Leicester City are currently five points clear of Arsenal and are high on confidence after humbling an unimpressive Manchester City at the Etihad last weekend. After that win, everyone is taking notice of their exploits and have marked them as genuine title challengers and possibly even favourites.
But Ranieri has played down that there is any pressure on Leicester to win the title and insists his rivals are the ones who should be worried.
“Listen, I think the pressure is about the other teams, not us,” Ranieri said, ”You mention the money, the big guy. We are the little guy, but Arsene spends big money every year.Tell me why I must feel pressure? We are close to continuing to dream with our fans and we want to dream. Nobody wake us up, please.We know very well that we need to make points in every match, but we know we can (afford to) lose against Arsenal.” he added
Wenger wary of Leicester threat
Leicester have been the most dangerous team on the counter-attack this season and Arsene Wenger is well aware of the threat that they possess.
The 66-year-old has warned his players saying, “We will try, of course, to stop their counter-attacking. But at home you have to express your strengths, and our strength is to have the ball. We have to try to express our strengths and as well try to stop them from hitting us on the break”.
The game is not a title decider but a victory for either side carries great significance in terms of the title race. With Manchester City playing Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday as well the top four bar Leicester could look very different after this weekend.
