James Maddison: Leicester City looking to put Liverpool defeat to bed
Leicester City will be looking to put the 4-0 defeat to Liverpool to bed when they take on West Ham United, says James Maddison.
The Foxes have been shown the mirror in each of their last two games, losing 7-1 on aggregate to Manchester City and the Reds respectively.
The debacle at the King Power Stadium stretched Leicester’s winless run to three, and if they are to maintain their advantage in the pursuit of a Champions League spot, then three points have to come sooner rather than later.
City’s 3-2 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers means that Brendan Rodgers’ side have retained the second spot, but with only a point separating the two, another bad result might have ramifications.
While Maddison is not indulged in any negative thoughts – and quite rightly – he knows the importance of a win. Speaking to LCFC TV, he said:
"“We just played the Champions League winners, it’s a positive that we’ve got a game so quickly after because we can focus on that and put this game to bed.“We’re at the start of our journey. It’s important to reiterate that. We were against a top side and they were better than us.“We’ll go there [West Ham] to try to win the game. It’s a very quick turnaround.“I’m guessing there will be changes and the whole squad quality will come into play. We’ll be in the best possible shape to try to win that game.”"
Leicester were always going to hit such a phase after an extended honeymoon period. We could all sense it coming. Of course, there is disappointment in the fact that they could not get anything from the previous two games but there also has to be acceptance and the realisation that things do take time.
The recent run does little to change the general feeling about the season at the halfway mark, which is that of contentment. It is all about refuelling and picking up the pace again, starting with Manuel Pellegrini’s 17th-placed West Ham at the London Stadium on Saturday.
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Needless to say, Leicester would know that they cannot afford to mess this one up.