Nobody can stop Leicester City from returning to the Premier League as Championship champions, according to Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray.
With their 12th league win in 13 games, the Foxes moved eight points clear of Sunderland on Tuesday.
Leicester also made it four consecutive home wins without conceding a goal for the first time in 50 years.
“How talented are they? When asked about Leicester, Mowbray told BBC Sport, “They are Premier League.”
“I don’t think they’ll be caught. Leicester will win the Premier League, in my opinion.
“I’m not sure how many Premier League appearances that team has, or what their salary level is for the football club, but what I do know is that it has a lot more Premier League experience than we do, and it has a lot more money attached to its players than we do.”
“I’m only interested in us coming and giving a good account of ourselves and testing ourselves against a Premier League outfit, and they will be a Premier League outfit again next season.”
‘We’re not going to finish above Leicester.’
Only four players in Leicester’s starting XI against Sunderland have never played in the Premier League, and only one, Italy Under-21 international Cesare Casadei, has never played in any country’s top flight.
Six players from Tuesday’s victory won the FA Cup with Leicester in 2021, with Premier League winners Jamie Vardy and Marc Albrighton coming off the bench.
Enzo Maresca’s table-topping Foxes have already amassed the most points in Championship history.
And, after 13 games, they are seven points ahead of Leicester’s title-winning Championship team from 2014. They went on to win promotion with two games remaining, finishing with 102 points.
“I heard before the game that Burnley had 19 points after 12 games last season [when they were promoted as champions], which is what we have got,” Mowbray was quoted as saying.
“Don’t worry about Leicester City on 36 points, we ain’t finishing above Leicester City.”
Maresca is ‘not scared’ of a new start with Leicester.
When asked what he thought of Mowbray’s title predictions and praise for the Foxes, Maresca said it was “something nice” but quickly dismissed it.
“At the same time it sometimes happens because they want to give you some pressure,” he told the BBC. “But, to be honest, I don’t think it’s Tony’s case tonight.”
“I don’t believe we are the only team building to reach the goal, or the only team with some Premier League players.”
“We are happy, but we are not thinking we are the only one club in this Championship trying to get promoted.”
Records and milestones appear to be broken with each game, but the 43-year-old Italian is unconcerned about any of it.
“We try to separate it because we know that all these kind of records are important if we reach our target,” he went on to say.
“At the same time, these kinds of records demonstrate what we’ve done – that this is not normal.”
“It is not normal because the reality for any football team is that they lose more than they win.”
“Because they have done something so important they need to enjoy it, but for us [the staff] we are still in October and would like to have the same situation in March or April for sure.”
And it’s the lessons Maresca learned as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City last season that are keeping his Foxes focused in the second division.
“For sure, being in that environment you can learn different things, and one thing is to handle when you win games,” he went on to say.
“I saw how difficult it is, even for City to win 1-0, or when the opponent is man to man and you struggle even against a small club.”
“So the good thing is every game is different, every game is difficult, and when you win, you need to enjoy it because in football it is reality that you lose more than you win.”
