Brendan Rodgers says his Leicester players are ready to seize the opportunity of rounding off a wonderful season by qualifying for the Champions League to add to Saturday’s FA Cup triumph. The Foxes face an instant re-match with Chelsea after edging the Blues 1-0 at Wembley to give the club its first FA Cup victory after four previous losses in the final.
Leicester are presently third in the table and victory over fourth-placed Chelsea at Stamford Bridge would secure their top four place — today’s opponents are two points worse off with two matches remaining.
However, 2020 title winners Liverpool are just three points adrift of Leicester having found a decent run of late form. Goalkeeper Allison’s last gasp headed goal to beat relegated West Bromwich Albion 2-1 on Sunday kept them firmly in the hunt.
Rodgers brushed off the impact the Brazilian’s late goal could have on the race for the Champions League spots. “There’s no ramifications for us,” he said. “Everything’s still in our hands. The players have been absolutely brilliant up until this point. We’ve got European football, we’ve got two games now to arrive into the top four. We focus on ourselves and we’ve got a great opportunity to qualify. With two games to go, we aim to take it.”
Rodgers will be hoping for a different outcome to what happened last season. Leicester lost out on Champions League football on the last day after their league form deserted them after the resumption following the first coronavirus lockdown.
The 48-year-old Northern Irishman says his players recovered from Saturday’s exertions on Sunday and are well up for today’s clash. He fully expects the game to resemble the final which was decided by a sublime long range effort from Belgian star Youri Tielemans.
Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel encouraged his Chelsea players not to waste the success of his first few months in charge in the final week of the Premier League season. Tuchel’s men also face Manchester City in the Champions League final on May 29, but need two wins from their final two Premier League games just to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
“It is easier to be self-confident when you constantly win, but there is no need to be afraid,” said Tuchel after experiencing back-to-back defeats for the first time since he took charge in January. “We need to believe in ourselves. It’s super important for our ambitions (to qualify for the Champions League). The situation is very clear, it is still in our hands. It is what we have worked hard for.”
Tuchel dismissed suggestions the cup final defeat had put more pressure on his side to gain revenge against the Foxes. But he lamented a 1-0 home defeat to Arsenal last week, when he made seven changes with one eye on Wembley, for blowing a commanding position in the battle for a top-four finish.