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Leicester is at the top of the table and must be taken seriously as a challenger for the Premier League title (Laurence Griffiths / PA).
By Sean Taylor, PA
During an increasingly unpredictable race evolving around the title, PA news agency takes a look at Brendan Rodgers’ team and asks if repeating the club’s 2015/16 success is a real possibility.
Quite simply, they have won more games than anyone . The Füchse reached their half-season on Tuesday evening, played their 19th game and recorded a 12th win. Rodgers’ team has scored 35 goals along the way – only defending champion Liverpool (37) have found the end of the net more often. Leicester has consistently shown that they belong in the top of the table these days, with wins against Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea and one draw with Manchester United.
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Ademola Lookman celebrates his goal in Fulham’s 2-1 win at King Power Stadium in November (Rui Vieira / PA)
Yes, this is a criticism that can be made on Rodgers’s side. While Leicester’s record against the established top six reads well, they have lost to Fulham, Aston Villa and West Ham this season, and have lost more points to Crystal Palace. It’s a recurring theme from last season – when Burnley, Norwich and Bournemouth all beat the Foxes – and something they need to stamp out if they are to pose any serious challenge to the title.
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Ricardo Pereira, Daniel Amartey, Wilfred Ndidi, Ayoze Perez and Caglar Soyuncu all missed big hits this season, but Leicester has still found a way to consistently win games. They still rely heavily on the Jamie Vardy talisman, although Rodgers has rested it at times in this campaign and still hasn’t lost any points, but there are plenty of match winners elsewhere – particularly the gifted James Maddison and Youri Tielemans. The fluid 3-4-2-1 formation allows Rodgers to grab the team in 10th place behind Vardy with any number of combinations, with Maddison, Tielemans, Perez, Harvey Barnes and Cengiz among all options.
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Rodgers is no stranger to the business end of the Premier League. He almost won it with Liverpool in 2013-14 before putting Leicester in the top four last season. The 47-year-old also won the Scotland title with Celtic in each of his two full seasons in Glasgow. Rodgers did a great job at King Power Stadium – not just building on the roster he inherited from Claude Puel, but also keeping Leicester consistently in the top four after losing key players like Harry Maguire and Ben Chilwell to hold.
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You have to. It would be foolish to sack such a talented group of players led by a smart manager, especially in such a bad season. Leicester were consistently in the top 4 – and often in the top 2 – last season before they stumbled upon resumption of football after being suspended and missed the Champions League with a home defeat to Manchester United on the last day of the match . The Foxes’ score this season compares to their 2015-16 title win. This season, Claudio Ranieri’s team finished second behind Arsenal with 39 points after 19 games, while they currently have 38 points in the same phase.
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