Braga boss Carlos Carvalhal has tipped Leicester to regain the Premier League title under Brendan Rodgers.

The former Swansea manager expects the Foxes to become long-term title contenders ahead of Thursday’s Europa League trip to the King Power Stadium.

Leicester are second in the Premier League, a point behind leaders and reigning champions Liverpool.

They shocked the world with a 5,000-1 title triumph in 2016 and Carvalhal believes, after their development under Rodgers, the Foxes can challenge again.

“If they don’t win the title this year I believe they will be strong title challengers in future years,” said the ex-Sheffield Wednesday boss.

“Leicester are a team who have balance and a big squad with a lot of quality. There has been great investment.

“There are a lot of strong points and that’s a big compliment to Brendan Rodgers, he is one of the best British managers at the moment.

“There is a lot of individual quality, they have a lot of reserves to come in and play at the same level of the existing first team.

“They are a difficult team to contain, that is why they scored five goals against Manchester City and four at Leeds.

“They have strengths but we will look to exploit their weaknesses.

“We won’t change anything about our system. We will press, we are up against a very strong opponent, they have had some great results and Brendan is doing a sensational job.

“We will go into the game without fear looking to get the result we want and that is three points.”

Braga have won their opening two Group G games, like Leicester, but Carvalhal is without the injured Ricardo Horta and Fransergio, who is self-isolating after being diagnosed with coronavirus.

He added: “We don’t want to start players who are tired, Thursday’s team will be the players who are as fresh as possible to maintain the standards in our play.”