Ruud van Nistelrooy's former Manchester United team-mate Roy Keane claims the "belief has gone" at Leicester as they slide towards relegation.
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Leicester face Liverpool this weekendOn verge of falling back into ChampionshipHave taken just 18 points this seasonFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Leicester have endured a truly awful campaign, and sit 19th in the Premier League table ahead of their clash with Liverpool this weekend. With a fixture looming against the champions-elect, the Foxes know that anything but a win will see them relegated. To stay up, they would need to win this game, and all of their remaining fixtures, while hoping Wolves lose all of theirs.
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Leicester have won just four games all season and have 18 points from 32 games. Keane has claimed that "the belief has gone" out of the dressing room, and also believes that the club resemble a "Championship side", with the former midfielder also anticipating an "ugly" scoreline when the Reds visit.
WHAT KEANE SAID
Keane told Sky: "It's been tough for Leicester this season. It's been tough for Ruud since he's come in, there are big problems, particularly at home. They can't score a goal. Defensively, they look so weak. They look like a Championship side. They must be low on confidence, no self-belief, I think there will be players in that dressing room that Leicester will be dreading (facing), particularly if Liverpool start quickly and score an early goal. It'll be a tough afternoon for Leicester, they've been up against it all season, obviously they changed their manager, there's been no real reaction to Ruud coming in. They're up against it."
He added: "There's not a great atmosphere here, the fans have turned a little bit, maybe a little bit on Ruud and the ownership but they turned on the previous manager here even though he was doing okay when you look back at it. There's definitely unrest in the camp which doesn't help the players, and if Liverpool start quickly and go a goal up after five or 10 minutes, it'll be ugly today. But players have to go and be professional, play with a bit of pride and I think the players will try, obviously, they are doing that but I think their confidence and the belief has gone out of the dressing room."
AFPWHAT NEXT?
Leicester will desperately hope to hold off relegation for a little longer. Still, a drop into the Championship is almost inevitable.