Leicester City Manager Claudio Ranieri is loving life at the top of the Premier League and is curious about what high-flying Leicester City can achieve, although he still refuses to look beyond ensuring their survival this season. The Foxes top the division and are just eight points short of a total that should guarantee them top-flight football next season.
Let me achieve the 40 points and then I will tell you what goal we put forward, Ranieri told reporters at his pre-match news conference on 10 December, ahead of Mondays visit of champions Chelsea.
It is a good time to test our team, he added. We are growing up, we want to test our team; what we can do this season, this is my personal goal.
Defending champions Chelsea, fresh from their Champions League win against Porto on 9 December and looking to bounce back from last weekends Premier League defeat to Bournemouth, will provide exactly the kind of test Ranieri is looking for.
A win against Jose Mourinhos men, who sit 14th in the table and 17 points adrift of Leicester, would reinforce the Foxes title credentials ahead of a tough run of fixtures before the new year.
The Foxes are away at Everton and Liverpool after Chelsea, before hosting Manchester City, and while Ranieri boasts the leagues deadliest strike force in Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, he is more focused on the team performance.
It is very important, the clean sheet because sooner or later we will score a goal. If we maintain the clean sheet? Minimum, 0-0, Ranieri said.
I told you a lot of times – it is not important how you score, it is important that the team scores. It is important the team plays as well as possible. If the team wins, it is better.
