‘Sausageman’ Ranieri set to put Palace through the mincer

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri has branded himself 'the Sausageman' after a local butcher created a sausage in his name to honour the club's unlikely Premier League title challenge.

Ranieri, 64, was known as 'the Tinkerman' during his spell as Chelsea manager due to his habit of changing his starting line-up between matches. But thanks to Leicester butchers W Archer and Son, who are offering a 'Ranieri' sausage to their customers, the Italian believes he has earned the right to a new nickname.

“I am the Sausageman,” said Ranieri, who has been rewarding his players with pizzas for clean sheets this season. “It is a good sausage. If there is enough chilli, it is good.”

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Leicester go into Saturday's trip to Crystal Palace looking to extend their lead at the top of the table to eight points ahead of second-place Tottenham Hotspur's home game with Bournemouth on Sunday.