Rodgers’ Leicester gatecrashing party
London – Revitalised by the appointment of manager Brendan Rodgers and free-scoring form of Jamie Vardy (right), Leicester City are once again upsetting the applecart of the Premier League’s top six.
Three years on from a remarkable title triumph that allowed football fans across the world to dream, third-placed Leicester could leapfrog defending champions Manchester City into second in the table with victory at Southampton tonight.
The Foxes have more points after their opening nine games of the season than Claudio Ranieri’s side managed in 2015/16 when they went on to beat the odds of 5 000/1 to be crowned champions of England.
The standards set in recent seasons by City and European champions Liverpool, who already hold an eight-point lead over Leicester at the top, mean the chances of matching that amazing feat look just as slim now.
However, Leicester do harbour realistic ambitions of a return to the Champions League by becoming the first side outside City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United to break into the top four in four seasons.
When Rodgers took over in February, a squad filled with talented young players plus the title-winning experience of Vardy and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was languishing in the bottom half of the table.
Since then only City, Liverpool and Chelsea have taken more points than Leicester.
Rodgers endured a whirlwind ride in just over three years in charge at Liverpool, coming agonisingly close to ending the club’s long wait for a league title in 2013/14 before being sacked in October 2015.
He rehabilitated his reputation with seven trophies in two-anda-half seasons at Celtic before returning to the Premier League with an immediate impact.
“Leicester are built like you would like to build a team,” said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp earlier this month, whose side needed a 95th minute penalty to beat the Foxes 2-1 at Anfield earlier this month.
“If you get a point against Leicester it would beat 95% of all the teams.”