Jamie Vardy's unconventional pre-match diet has been revealed after the Leicester City star was seen enjoying a Red Bull before playing Chelsea.
After a two week international break, the Premier League returned on Saturday with a gameweek with several exciting clashes including a top of the table clash between defending champions City and Tottenham Hotspur.
Leicester City welcomed former manager Enzo Maresca back to to the King Power stadium as they faced Chelsea in the first match of the gameweek, with the visitors taking the lead in the first half through in-form Nicolas Jackson.
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But ahead of the game, Leicester striker Vardy's bizarre pre-match diet has resurfaced after the Englishman was spotted drinking a can of Red Bull in the tunnel before the match.
In an in-depth interview with Sky Sports as part of their 'Making it Pro' feature, the former England man revealed he still opts for a crazy caffeine fix prior to games.
Speaking in 2020, he said: "I wake up in the morning and then [have a] Red Bull. Literally I get out of bed, get the kids up and downstairs, get their breakfast sorted and then I'm straight into the Red Bull.
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"After that we meet at the stadium for pre-match and while I'm getting changed I'll have a coffee - it's better than taking ProPlus. Red Bull, coffee and then when we get over to the pre-match lounge, I'll have my cheese and ham omelette with another can of Red Bull."
Asked how his stomach is able to process and deal with the caffeine coming his way, Vardy replied: "I think when you've done it for so many years I think it just gets used to it, it's not an issue whatsoever. It's one of them things, it's not going to work for everyone.
"To be fair, I've probably cut back because I'm only on a little can of Red Bull now whereas before when I was at Fleetwood I used to have the big cans of Monster - I used to have two of them as well."
In the past, Vardy's habits included mixing Skittles and vodka, while he also had a thing for drinking port out of a Lucozade bottle.
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Writing in his autobiography, Vardy said: "I can't say why it started, because I genuinely don't know, but I decided to drink a glass of port on the eve of every game in the 2015-16 season.
"I'm not normally superstitious but from the moment I scored against Sunderland on the opening day, I didn't want to change anything."
"I fill a small plastic water or Lucozade bottle to halfway and just sip the port while watching television. It tastes like Ribena to me, and it helps me switch off and get to sleep a bit easier the night before a game."
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Speaking in 2021, Vardy's former Leicester teammate, Ritchie De Laet, opened up about the time Vardy finished off a bottle of port before breaking a Premier League record.
“The night before a game, Jamie drinks pints and only eats pizza," he told Belgian outlet Het Nieuwsblad.
“For example, when he beat Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s record by scoring in 11 consecutive games; the night before, the bus driver bought us a bottle of port. We hid it in our hotel room.
“I had a glass, and Jamie made sure to finish the rest of the bottle”.
Topics: England, Jamie Vardy, Leicester City, Premier League, Enzo Maresca
Ben McCrum