Rodgers: We Want To Create History Of Our Own

- Leicester take on Chelsea in the Emirates FA Cup Quarter-Finals on Sunday afternoon
- The behind-closed-doors fixture is a 4pm kick-off at King Power Stadium with live coverage on BT Sport 1
- Rodgers says his side have shown their intent in the cup competitions so far this season
- He believes it will be a very tough game against quality opposition in Chelsea

Rodgers’ side made the last four of the Carabao Cup earlier this season before defeat to Aston Villa over two legs, while City’s last FA Cup Semi-Final appearance was nearly 40 years ago. 

However, ahead of Sunday's King Power Stadium tie, Rodgers is hoping to reverse that trend when the two sides - separated by one point in the Premier League - meet for the third time this season.

Speaking in his virtual pre-match conference with the national media, he commented: “We want to create history of our own and, throughout this season, we’ve broken records and had performances that have enabled us to do that, so that’s our aim, to get to the semi-final.

“Even as a manager I’ve not beaten Chelsea with all the teams I’ve been involved with, sometimes you just get that record.

“I’m the eternal optimist in everything that I do. I believe you will always get the opportunity, it will come at some point, so we have to push for it every time we play and that’s what we aim to do.”

Both Premier League clashes between the two sides this season ended in a draw, but a winner must be found at King Power Stadium on Sunday, with no replays in the sixth round of the competition.

“It will be a very tough game against a very talented squad but we’ve had two games against Chelsea this season and we could have won both games so we hope to continue to the next step now at the weekend,” the Northern Irishman continued.

“The Club has not won the competition, so there’s a real motivation for us to do it. We’ve hopefully showed our intent in all the cup competitions, getting to the semi-finals of the League Cup and now getting to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

"Of course we want to get to the final but this will be a tough game for us and we’ve got to get fully focused on that.”

Following two draws from the first two games after the restart, Rodgers wants City to get back to their attacking best for the visit of Chelsea on Sunday.

“The responsibility is on the team and, of course, the guys at the top end of the field," he added. "From having the break for three months, when we got the players back, they were at a good level of fitness but we play at a really intense level, so that’s something that we missed on the training field. I think it’s just getting back to what we’ve done.

"We showed the players this morning, reaffirming our game method and how we work. We’re a team that very much likes to stretch teams and run in behind, so the movement of the players to stretch the game is so important for us.

“I thought in the first two games we didn’t have nearly enough of that. We need to get the ball forward to those runners and we didn’t. We must do much more of that.

“That’s the hard graft because sometimes you are self sacrificing to not get it, but the team will benefit. That’s something that we have been working on over these last few days since Brighton.

“Apart from Liverpool, we’ve got the best defensive record in the league and, apart from Liverpool and Manchester City, we’ve scored the most goals, so we’re clearly a team that has done something right.

“[We just need to] get that rhythm again and get that intensity back into our game as quickly as we possibly can.”

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