IMPORTANT Leicester midfielder N’Golo Kante will miss the club’s next two matches in the English Premier League as the race for the title continues to intensify.
Kante was substituted after 70 minutes in the Foxes’ vital 1-0 home win over Norwich on the weekend after sustaining a hamstring injury.
The soft tissue injury, which was described at the time by the Leicester staff as ‘nothing serious’ rules Kante out of the must-win home match-up against West Brom on Tuesday night.
Despite the loss, Leicester are still the outright $2.80 favourite for the EPL title with Crownbet.com.au
The 24-year-old is also expected to miss the away match against Watford on the weekend.
The club will also be reluctant to take any chances with the Frenchman, given how significant his influence is
Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri was optimistic Kante will be ready for the final stretch of the season.
“We lose him for the next two matches,” Ranieri said.
“He has a little pain with his hamstring, so I need to give him some rest.”
The former Chelsea boss is hopeful a fortnight of rest will be the tonic to see Kante return to full fitness.
“I hope only two. It’s a little painful, he suffered during all of the season and now we want to give him some rest. Two matches and he can restart.
“All the season he had a problem with the other leg and now this time the new leg. Maybe he made a compensation and charged too much on the other leg.”
Kante’s injury is a huge blow to the league leaders.
Before the news broke of the Frenchman’s injury, Leicester were standalone favourites at $2.80, but blew out to $3.20 after confirmation he will miss the next two weeks.
Tottenham are joint favourites at the top of the market at William Hill.
A win over West Brom will ensure the Foxes go five points clear at the top of the table.
Second placed Tottenham – who fought their way back on the weekend after going down 1-0 to battlers Swansea to win – are facing a tricky away fixture against West Ham 24 hours later.
The Foxes will need to reserve the last result against the Baggies.
Last time the teams met West Brom upset Leicester 3-2 at home, a fact that was not lost on the manager.
Ranieri believes patience is the key to winning the return leg on Tuesday night.
“The first match against West Brom was tough. They scored first, and we slowly got better. I am waiting for the same this time. We have to continue to play our football, be intelligent, and take the right moment.” he said.
What we are doing is important, not the others. West Brom were 3-0 up against Crystal Palace … they are a very dangerous team.”
27-year-old Englishman Andy King is expected to be the man called upon by Ranieri to fill the void left by Kante.
The Italian manager believes his partnership with compatriot Danny Drinkwater should ensure the Foxes do not miss a beat.
“We put King on and he plays very well with [Danny] Drinkwater. I’m very confident in him,” Ranieri said.
The silver lining for the Foxes going into the final stretches of the season is the fact that they no longer have European or domestic secondary competitions to contend.
The other three teams in the top-four have European duty still in their schedule, which means the focus will not solely be on winning the league.
Despite this, Ranieri was quick to praise the title credentials of his nearest rivals.
“I think Tottenham and Arsenal are very favourites. Arsenal have players who can do anything, and they can win every match,” he said.
For the remainder of the season the Foxes only face three half teams.
Two of those fixtures are at home (West Ham and Everton) while their hardest match up in the final stages of the season is an away match up against Manchester United.
English Premier League title odds:
Leicester: $2.80 (Crownbet.com.au)
Tottenham: $3.20 (WilliamHill.com.au)
Arsenal: $4.50 (Sportsbet.com.au)
Manchester City: $6.50 (Sportsbet.com.au)
