Leicester City returned to the top of the Barclays Premier League table with a comfortable 3-0 win over Stoke City at the King Power Stadium on Saturday. .
Claudio Ranieri’s side had won only one of their previous five league games but Danny Drinkwater gave them the lead just before half-time and second-half goals from Jamie Vardy and Leonardo Ulloa sealed a win to revive faith in their unlikely hunt for glory.
The result puts the Foxes three points clear of Arsenal ahead of the Gunners’ clash with Chelsea on Sunday.
Ranieri stated his players are “ready to fight” as they prepare for a run of difficult fixtures.
“It was very important to be top of the league at the end of January because now February is a month that is very, very tough,” he said.
“Liverpool, Arsenal, City – it is unbelievable. But we are ready to fight. Now the players will have three days off, to clear the minds.
“And when they come back we restart to work hard because the league, for us, is very exciting.”
Sergio Aguero scored twice to rescue a point for stuttering Manchester City in a 2-2 draw at West Ham.
The title challengers twice fell behind to goals from Enner Valencia and needed Aguero to bail them out with a penalty and a late equaliser.
City’s point meant they leapfrogged Arsenal to second-place on the log.
