Matchday Minus Two Talking Points: Returning To Action, Away Form & Rodgers Praise
- Matchday Minus Two previewed Sunday's Premier League fixture against Liverpool (7:15pm kick-off)
- Gerry Taggart discussed City's remarkable away form, which sees them hold a 100 per cent record
- The former Fox believes Leicester will be able to maintain the momentum from recent weeks, despite the international break
- Confidence should be flowing right through the whole squad, the defender adds
The LCFC TV broadcast, on air two days before every first team weekend fixture, sees Foxes legends discuss the Club's latest talking points.
On Friday's episode, Taggart was in the studio to reflect on Leicester's 100 per cent away record in the Premier League and look ahead to this weekend's trip to Anfield...
Winning breeds confidence
Gerry Taggart said: "What a bounce back it's been from that defeat against Aston Villa. Sometimes you learn more from your defeats than you do from your wins and we've seen that in the last six games. The momentum and confidence within the team has been fantastic."
Feeling fresh after internationals
Gerry Taggart said: "Thankfully everyone is back with a clean bill of health and really looking forward to getting the Premier League back on track. It's a slightly different environment when you go away with your international team, they will see that as just as important as playing with your club side. You're going out of the frying pan and into the fire when you meet up with your country, because there's a lot of very important games for them. The form is important and it's important that everyone comes back feeling confident, feeling fit, which is also very important for Brendan [Rodgers]. And that seems to be the case, so fingers crossed going into the game Sunday."
Rodgers praise
Gerry Taggart said: "You've got to give a lot of credit to the manager for the way he has rotated the side and the trust and the faith he has in the squad of players that he's got. Obviously, also the players as well, in regards to coming up with the goods when they get that start and they get that chance. I'm thinking of people like Kelechi Iheanacho in the Europa League, it's been a fantastic couple of games for him. Marc Albrighton, another player. It's been a fantastic all-round group of games that the Club have been involved in."
Previewing Liverpool
Gerry Taggart said: "You're talking about a game coming up that is probably the pinnacle of the season so far. So to be going into that game with a clean bill of health and also getting through those tricky Premier League games that we've seen, that's fantastic momentum and fantastic confidence to take into this massive game on Sunday."
Impressive away form
Gerry Taggart said: "I think they will be full of confidence, they have to be. if you're going to pick two away games that stick out, for me, it's Manchester City and Arsenal, but there's more under the surface than just that. In itself, that will give the lads a lot of confidence going to Liverpool, suggesting that they have a really good chance of picking up a result. We know that Liverpool have had their injury worries, but on the flip side of that, they've still got good players to come in, they've still got a strong squad. So it's going to be a really intriguing game. The away form that Leicester have shown this season will definitely fare them well going into it."
Arsenal and Leeds masterclasses
Gerry Taggart said: "If you're talking about the last six games, you have to pick out the Arsenal game. The players were absolutely on it from minute one. The way the team were set up, a bit of a throwback to 2015/16, and bringing [Jamie] Vardy on when they did just changed the whole dynamic of the game. It was fantastic and he obviously got the winning goal. And then the game against Leeds, in the modern game, the fitness levels have to be stratospheric and coming up against one of the fittest teams in the league, we just run over the top of the them. They were out on their feet by the end of the match. They couldn't cope, not only with the fitness levels, but the footballing ability that this team brings. They are the two standout performances over the last few weeks."
All times GMT.