Eriksson tipping Foxes for EPL glory

From the other side of the world, Sven-Goran Eriksson is backing his former club Leicester City to complete a most famous English Premier League triumph.

Five-and-a-half years ago, the former England boss was coaxed to take over as coach of the club while it sat uncomfortably in the relegation zone of the English second tier.

While Eriksson would steer them to safety, it was his successor Nigel Pearson that took the Foxes to the Premier League in 2014.

Another coaching veteran - 64-year-old Italian Claudio Ranieri - is now performing miracles to have Leicester on top of the Premier League, and Eriksson is delighted.

"I really hope that they will win it," he said.

"That will be sensational. It would be great for the Premier League. And I think they have a good chance."

Eriksson suggested the most important figure at the club was owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

The Thai businessman appointed Eriksson as coach, investing in players to help secure Leicester's position before steadily raising the stakes.

Srivaddhanaprabha sacked Eriksson after an underwhelming start to the next campaign, a decision Eriksson called 'cowardly' in his 2013 autobiography.

But Eriksson singled Srivaddhanaprabha out for praise while in Melbourne for his current club Shanghai SIPG's Asian Champions League match with Melbourne Victory.

"The owner has been very, very important ... he bought the club and people asked at the time 'why did he buy the club?'," he said.

"He's genuinely interested in football and he wanted to make Leicester a big club and there they are."

Eriksson signed one piece of the puzzle that has helped the unfashionable Midlands club surge to the top of the table, goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

"They deserve to be where they are because they are playing very good football, very aggressive, working very very hard and they have a striker who scores goals for fun," Eriksson said.

"Congratulations to the whole club. They can win it and I hope so."