Ronald Koeman has claimed PSV Eindhoven will not enter their clash with Leicester City on Thursday as underdogs because the Foxes seemingly don’t care as much about Europe.
Leicester host the Dutch side in the first leg of their Europa Conference League quarter-final on Thursday before travelling to the Netherlands later this month.
They head into the game as the favourites for many, given the talent in their current squad, which has been expensively assembled compared to PSV’s.
However, this season has been something of a struggle for Brendan Rodgers and co, with injuries playing their part and leaving them tenth in the table and 14 points from the top six.
PSV, meanwhile, have enjoyed a strong campaign, pushing Ajax at the top of the Eredivisie and currently trailing them by just four points.
They’ve also won four of their last five games, and Koeman believes that negates the idea of there being a favourite for the clash.
“Leicester is a bit less than last season after all,” De Telegraaf report him saying to PSV TV.
“You have the idea that maybe they consider European soccer a little less important after all. I think there is no favourite.
“There’s a lot of football in this PSV; they want to rush the opponent and are not wait-and-see. With players like Mario Götze, there is such a verve in them.
“Of course, I know Cody Gakpo from my time as national coach; he was also coming through. And Joey Veerman now gets the chance to prove himself at the highest level. There is soccer and character in the team.”
