The two England colleagues will collide when Manchester United visit Leicester City on Saturday.
Manchester United defender Chris Smalling has told the club’s official website that he will be ready to keep Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy quiet in Saturday’s Premier League encounter.
As United’s website reports, Vardy named Smalling as his toughest ever opponent in his 2016 autobiography, having only scored once against the Red Devils when the centre-back has been playing.
That goal was in November 2015 when Vardy broke Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record by scoring in 11 successive Premier League games on the way to the Foxes famously lifting the title.
While returning the compliment by admitting that Vardy is a “nightmare” to play against, Smalling is confident that he can get the better of his England colleague at the King Power Stadium this weekend.
“I enjoy my tussles with ‘Vards’,” Smalling told Manchester United’s official website.
“He is someone who is a bit of a nightmare for defenders because he is often ratting around and chasing with non-stop running. He runs in behind which, as a defender, is the hardest thing to deal with, but I will be looking forward to that battle and, hopefully, I’ll be ready to keep him quiet.”
Since the beginning of the 2014-15 season, Vardy has scored a staggering 43% of his league goals against the big-six clubs – 20 in 39 games – compared to 18% for Harry Kane and 8% for Romelu Lukaku.
The 30-year-old has scored three times against United in total, but two of them were when Smalling was not in the lineup – in last season’s Community Shield and Leicester’s 5-3 home win in September 2014.
So if there is one defender who knows how to keep him quiet, Smalling might be the man.
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