The Day Belief Grew Stronger: The Impossible Dream… Possible?

It’s a subject we’ve covered twice this season, but both times in the early days – Leicester City.

After a month, we thought it was amusing they were in the top 5 having spent a heavy part of last season at the bottom of the Premier League table. Then, we briefly discussed if the impossible dream could happen, but we still didn’t think it would happen.

But now, with 13 games to go, they’re not just “still there”. The Foxes sit top of the table. Five points clear (from Tottenham Hotspur, just to make the season even more crazy). And they’ve done it by beating one of the favourites for the title, Manchester City (who just last week confirmed Pep Guardiola would be joining them next season).

This is starting to get a little serious now. By comparison, Leicester already have twelve more points than they did at the very end of the last season – and there’s still 13 games to go, as previously mentioned.

Will Jamie Vardy’s party be getting bigger in the future?

It’s a phenomenal story. While fighting near the top for England’s biggest prize in football isn’t a foreign concept to the blues, it’s been quite a few generations since: Leicester were runners-up in the 1928/29 season. This was way before the mega riches of modern football as we know it have come in to play, and it’s safe to say that where money speaks in the Premier League, Leicester are one of the minnows. So to be leading and by the gap they are, especially after last year, is just crazy to even contemplate.

Whatever happened to the Foxes in April of last year when their formed turned for the better, it’s led them to an incredible situation where in the past 10 months, they’ve lost just three Premier League games: Chelsea (last season, who would go on to win the title), Arsenal and Liverpool. Teams you would expect Leicester to possibly struggle against, so there’s no shame in that.

In the last 13 games, Leicester have three last major hurdles to try and clear: Arsenal who they play next, Manchester United as their third from last game on April 30th and Chelsea who they meet in their final game. Outside of that, the job is to simply not slip up against the remaining competition, who Leicester have now shown they should be able to win against.

It’s not just been a case of getting the points where they should’ve, but in the big crunch matches against the “big 5”, Leicester have upped their game:

Arsenal: Lose 2-5, TBD (0 pts.)
Chelsea: Win 2-1, TBD (3 pts.)
Liverpool: Lose 1-0, Win 2-0 (3 pts.)
Man City: Draw 0-0, Win 1-3 (4 pts.)
Man Utd: Draw 1-1, TBD (1 pt.)

TOTAL: 11 out of 21

By comparison, they managed just 5 points against the “big 5” all of last season.

Should the Foxes achieve the dream, Ranieri will lift the Premier League title at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge – where he previously managed prior to Mourinho’s first stint.

Of course, with a third of the season still to go, it could still go awry – so if a surprise downturn of form were to suddenly happen, what realistically could Leicester expect? European football looks more and more of a likelihood – they’re 14 points clear of West Ham who sit just outside the Europa League slot in 6th, but what about Champions League? Manchester United are the team just outside of that in 5th, 12 points behind Leicester. Imagine the chances of Leicester vs. Barcelona…

We can dare to dream – but May is still a while away, so feet on the ground for now. Because let’s face it – unless you support Tottenham, Arsenal or Manchester City – right now you’re possibly hoping for a Foxes title because… well, who doesn’t love a fairytale?

Ashley Redman
Struggling to hide the fact he’s a Leicester City fan