'Pressure on Arsenal'

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri has scoffed at suggestions that the Premier League leaders are under increased pressure ahead of their trip to title rivals Arsenal on Sunday.

Long considered plucky overachievers, Leicester went five points clear after winning 3-1 at Manchester City last weekend and were subsequently installed as title favourites by some British bookmakers.

They can put eight points between themselves and third-place Arsenal if they win at the Emirates Stadium and Ranieri says that their new status as front-runners is something to be savoured.

"The pressure is for the other teams, not us," the Italian, whose club have never finished higher than second in the English top flight, told his pre-match press conference.

"The money and the big gap? We have pressure for our little gap, Arsenal have more pressure because they have spent more money.

"Tell me why I must feel pressure? We are close to continuing to dream with our fans. Nobody wake us up please."

With City and second-place Tottenham Hotspur guaranteed to take points from each other on Sunday, Ranieri's side have an extra incentive to claim a first win at Arsenal since September 1973.

It is a mark of how seriously Leicester's challenge is being taken that both City manager Manuel Pellegrini and his Arsenal counterpart Arsene Wenger have declared them favourites, doubtless in the hope that they will crumble beneath the weight of expectation.

While City and Arsenal continue to compete on multiple fronts, Leicester have only the league to concentrate on, but Wenger is hopeful that the lack of distractions will prove a distraction in itself.

"Time to think can be a disadvantage if you not are thinking in a positive way and the pressure is on," he said.

"It is true that sometimes the less time you have to wait for the next game, the better it is."