On Friday night, Leicester saw their nine-match unbeaten run come to an end against Leeds United at the King Power Stadium, but the Foxes are still top of the table with 39 points from 15 games.
Now Enzo Maresca will take his team to the Riverside Stadium to face Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough, who have picked up 20 points from their last nine league games.
Piper pointed out that despite a tough start to the season, Middlesbrough managed to beat high-profile opponents in their recent games and believes their position in the league table is not the right marker of their quality.
He also added that Middlesbrough are going to be a difficult challenge for Leicester and warned the Foxes that back-to-back defeats might hurt the confidence that they built with a great start.
“We have not lost two on the bounce, so the first time that happens, it will put a dent in the confidence that we built up at the start of the season”, Piper said on BBC Radio Leicester.
“I think Middlesbrough are 12th at the minute but that is kind of a false position.
“They have beaten Watford, they have beaten Southampton, they have hammered Sunderland and they have beaten Norwich.
“They are a good team, Middlesbrough and I think he [Carrick] got them into the playoffs last season.
“He had a stuttering start to the season, but in the last sort of six to seven games, they have really started to pick up some impressive wins, so it is going to be a difficult one.
“I think it is the first time we are sort of playing back-to-back games against two top sides in contention to go back up into the Premier League, so it is going to be a tough test.”
Leicester have not lost against Middlesbrough in their last 14 meetings and their last defeat came in 2002, when both of them were in the Premier League.
