Steve Cooper insisted that keeping veteran striker Jamie Vardy fit throughout the season would be vital in confirming their Premier League status for another year.
Vardy netted the Foxes' equaliser in their 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night, scoring his ninth goal against Spurs and his 137th in the competition.
While their talisman is coming to the end of his Leicester career and is the oldest player in the squad by five years, Cooper said his influence on the side is crucial.
"Jamie doesn’t need any special words from me on his capabilities and impact he can have and the talent he has around the box," Cooper said.
"Keeping him fresh for games is going to be important. He is an older player now at his age. As they get older, they understand their bodies well and know what is needed to prepare for games.
"It is important we work with him collaboratively to get him ready for games. He really enjoys the games and what it takes to get ready for games, and we have to respect that."
Fulham started the new season by falling to a late defeat at the hands of Manchester United, with new signing Joshua Zirkzee striking late for the hosts.
It marked the Cottagers' first defeat starting a season away from home since the 2008-09 campaign, but there were positives to take for head coach Marco Silva.
Fulham registered 10 shots, with only two on target, as Silva recognised that his players must take a more precautionary approach to their first home game.
"When I see our players with some free kicks, trying to rush all the decisions, even with the players on the grass trying to do it quickly, we should have much more balance in decisions, to have longer moments in possession," Silva said.
"Because the pressure from Man United at that moment was not there any more. We should have longer possession to create the moments, but we started to lose the ball too quickly.
"And then at the last minute, they scored in one moment that the game was completely broken."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Fulham – Andreas Pereira
Despite losing their opening game against Manchester United, Andreas Pereira put on a strong showing against his former employers.
Pereira created more chances than any other Premier League player in the opening round of fixtures (six), while also playing the most passes into the final third (16) than any other Fulham player last Friday.
It’s the 19th time on record a Fulham player has created six or more chances in a top-flight match, with the Brazilian responsible for seven of those.
Leicester – Abdul Fatawu
Leicester enjoyed a much better result upon their return to the Premier League, with one of the standout figures from their Championship success, Abdul Fatawu, starring for the Foxes.
No Premier League player won more duels on matchday one than Fatawu (13), while he also led all Foxes players in successful dribbles (three), possession won (eight) and tackles (six).
MATCH PREDICTION: FULHAM WIN
Fulham will be hoping to return to winning ways on home soil. They have only started a season with consecutive defeats in just two of their 17 previous Premier League campaigns (2018-19 and 2020-21).
The Cottagers won both Premier League meetings with Leicester the last time the sides met in 2022-23, last winning three consecutive league games against the Foxes between 1966 and 1967.
However, Fulham haven’t won their first home match in any of their last five Premier League campaigns (D1 L4), since a 5-0 win against Norwich City in 2012-13.
For Leicester, they will be looking to carry their away form from the Championship into the Premier League.
No side in the top four tiers of English football won more away league games than Leicester last season (14). The Foxes won each of their first seven away games in the Championship last term, winning the same amount in their final 16 on the road (D3 L6).
Foxes boss Cooper, however, has lost six of his seven meetings with Fulham in all competitions, though his one and only success did come at Craven Cottage (1-0 in April 2022). He’s lost all three Premier League games against the Cottagers by an aggregate score of 10-2.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Fulham – 51.5%
Draw – 24.3%
Leicester – 24.1%
Bisseck signs Inter contract extension to 2029
Yann Bisseck has signed a new contract extension with Inter until 2029.
The defender joined the club in July 2023 from AGF for around €7million and has since made 32 appearances in all competitions.
His initial deal would keep him at Inter until 2028, but the 23-year-old has signed a one-year contract extension.
Bisseck has played 11 times for Inter so far this term, including all four of their Champions League matches, making the second-most blocks (four) and the most interceptions (five) among his team-mates in the competition.
"I feel that the club has confidence in me, as does the coach: everyone has contributed to this renewal, and I'm happy with the progress I've made. I think this deal is a positive moment for everyone," he told InterTV.
"There are many things I can still improve. I'm not a perfect player, but I'm still young and there are many aspects that I still need to work on, especially from a tactical and mental point of view.
"Technically and physically, I've reached a good level. I think my mentality will be key to my future growth."
Clarendon College, Manchester, Dinthill Technical and Cornwall College through to quarterfinals of Ben Francis Cup
Seven-time champions Cornwall College and Manchester High survived penalty kicks to advance to the quarter-finals of the ISSA Ben Francis Cup, where they will be joined by Clarendon College and Denbigh High.
Cornwall College came from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw against Happy Grove High before winning 5-4 on penalties at Drax Hall, the same margin that Manchester High beat Dinthill Technical by after they played out a 2-2 draw at Wembley Centre of Excellence.
Clarendon College beat Kemps Hill High 3-1 in their all-Clarendon derby at Foga Road, while Denbigh High were 2-0 winners over Alphansus Davis High at Brooks Park.
The winners will await the four teams that fail to advance past the daCosta Cup quarter-finals for the next round of the Ben Francis Cup, which will be played on November 21st.
Ranieri turned down offers before Roma retirement U-turn
Claudio Ranieri revealed he has turned down offers from other clubs since his retirement before answering Roma's call to be their new manager.
Ranieri announced his retirement at the end of last season after guiding Cagliari to Serie A safety, but after Roma sacked their second manager this season, the 73-year-old agreed on Thursday to take charge until the end of the campaign.
It is Ranieri's third spell as manager of Roma, the club where he began his playing career, and the Rome native will remain in a senior management role once his coaching term ends.
Across his previous two spells, Ranieri managed 96 games in all competitions, registering 53 wins, with a win percentage of 55.21%.
"I had stopped coaching, I have had more requests in recent months than when I won the league title with Leicester City," Ranieri told a press conference.
"I have always said no. I said only in two cases can I return to coaching, either for Roma or Cagliari, if something went wrong.
"I was convinced to have gone my own way, but fate wanted me to return home. I began at Roma as a player and I will finish there as an executive."
Ranieri has no interest in what has gone wrong for Roma this season, in which Daniele De Rossi and Ivan Juric have been dismissed.
"There are a thousand reasons, and honestly I don't care," he said.
"If I go looking at what happened yesterday, I won't achieve anything. I was given carte blanche and I have to do my best with these players. From now on, I am the one in charge.
"Changing two managers by November isn't easy for anyone, one wants to play in a certain manner, one wants to play another way, so there is a bit of an electroshock. That's normal."
Paulo Dybala's absence against Bologna led to speculation that it had more to do with his contract's automatic renewal clause on reaching a certain percentage of appearances than with the Argentine forward's physical fitness.
The Argentinian has made 12 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring twice in Serie A, including the only goal in their last win at the end of October.
Ranieri showed he means business when he revealed the conversation he had with Roma President Dan Friedkin.
"It's the first thing I asked the president," Ranieri said.
"I told him 'I do as I please, I don't want to know if he has clauses or not'.
"You can see that when Dybala is well he makes the difference. I wish he could always play, but he won't."
Ranieri's first game comes after the international break when Roma take on league leaders Napoli.
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