Ranieri targets Sassuolo result “so we can really enjoy Christmas”

After taking six points in the last six days, Claudio Ranieri wants his men to get another result in the bag against Sassuolo to head into the Christmas break on a high.

“Winning our last two has obviously given us a lift and reinforced our belief in our work, but Sassuolo is going to be a very difficult game because they’re running like clockwork,” the boss said on the eve of the game.

“Within each match there are other smaller matches and we have to perform well in all of them and stay fully focused.”

“De Zerbi is a great coach and he’s doing an excellent job at Sassuolo: he has them highly organised. They have some excellent individuals in every area of the pitch and can build moves as a team or release their forwards in behind the line.

“We have two completely different philosophies. He wants more possession while I want us to play forward quickly.

“We’ll need to run hard, dig in and stay compact. We need points so that we can really enjoy Christmas.”