Leicester outfoxed in its title defence
Defending champs sliding down the table after loss of Kante as Chelsea reaps rewards
Defending Premier League-champion Leicester City is sliding down the table rapidly. The team has yet to score in league play in 2017 and is now just a point above the relegation zone and two points out of last place.
On Sunday, Leicester plays away to fellow relegation candidate Swansea City. The two teams are tied on points with Leicester ahead on goal difference. Six teams are separated by just two points at the bottom of the table in what promises to be a dramatic race to avoid the drop.
Leicester winning the league title last season was an incredible achievement and a fantastic story, but I had a bad feeling that they would be in for a huge struggle this season.
The team is still alive in the Champions League, where it faces Sevilla in the knockout round, with the first game in Spain on Feb. 22. And on Wednesday, Leicester advanced to the fifth round of the FA Cup after beating Derby County 3-1 in a replay.
Coach Claudio Ranieri is going to have to juggle the demands of these cup competitions with the high-priority task of avoiding relegation. His team, though, is playing poorly and has lost confidence. They’ll need to turn things around soon and there is no better chance than Sunday’s visit to Swansea.
The missing piece
The thing that Leicester City is missing the most from last season is dynamic defensive midfielder N’Golo Kante. He’s now a key figure leading Chelsea’s title charge.
Kante hopes to become the first player to win consecutive English top-flight championships with two different clubs since Eric Cantona did it in 1992-93 with Leeds United and Manchester United.
A remarkable statistic on Kante is that he has made more tackles over the past three Premier League seasons than any other player. What makes that statistic truly remarkable is that Kante has only been in the league for two seasons.
Kante covers so much ground and wins the ball so often, it almost seems like cheating having him on the field. He both denies the opposition chances, while at the same time initiating his team’s transition play.
The quick counterattack was Leicester’s bread and butter last season. Now they don’t have it, Chelsea does and Kante is the reason.
It’s a knockout
The UEFA Champions League round of 16 starts next week with some huge games.
On Tuesday, we have Benfica hosting Borussia Dortmund, while Barcelona visits Paris Saint-Germain. Tuesday is Valentine’s Day and that PSG-Barca contest promises to be a sweetheart of a game. Both teams have a ton of talent, particularly Barcelona, but both are having their problems as well, so this game could go either way. PSG having home advantage could count for a lot.
On Wednesday, we have Bayern Munich hosting Arsenal, while Napoli is at Real Madrid. All these teams play attacking soccer, so it should be quite the spectacle. In fact those four teams each lead their respective leagues in goals scored per game.
With the away-goals rule in effect for these home-and-away matchups, I expect we’ll see plenty of scoring chances.
Jurgen had a little lamb
Liverpool has dropped out of the Premier League top four, crashed out of two cup competitions in recent days and on Saturday suffered a humiliating 2-0 loss to cellar-dwellers Hull City.
Manager Jurgen Klopp must be feeling that things aren’t going his way, while fans and the media are questioning whether the six-year deal he signed was a good idea for the club. On the bright side, he did have a lamb named after him recently.
Klopp’s King is a newborn ram owned by Welsh farmer Henry Tudor. The lamb weighs in at a hefty 22 pounds, which apparently is twice the size of a normal newborn.
Henry’s son Ioan is a huge Liverpool fan and was allowed to the name the lamb in honour of the Liverpool manager. So at least Klopp has that going for him.
Bob Lenarduzzi is president of Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Tickets: visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets.