Leicester only have United to beat
Leicester will be ‘crowned’ champions of England for the first time
Leicester will be crowned champions of England for the first time if they beat Man United at Old Trafford.
london — Leicester will complete an “incredible” Premier League title triumph and be crowned champions of England for the first time in their history if they beat Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Tottenham Hotspur, the only team who can deny the Midlands club the title, lost ground with a 1-1 draw at home to West Bromwich Albion on Monday that meant they were seven points behind with three games left to play.
Even if Leicester, 5,000/1 rank outsiders in pre-season to win the Premier League after narrowly avoiding relegation last term, slip up at Old Trafford the Foxes will still be in pole position to finish the season as champions.
“There’s still work to do but, in most people’s eyes, it is done and dusted,” former Leicester defender Matt Elliott told BBC Radio Five.
“Leicester can win the title at Old Trafford... it sounds incredible. I’m covering it on the radio and there are three of us going up in the car. If they win, it won’t be me driving home.”
This season has seen Midlands club Leicester leave established Premier League giants such as Manchester City, Arsenal and defending champions Chelsea well behind them.
Owned by Thai billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, Leicester have already qualified for the Champions League for the first time in a season where only the three promoted clubs — Watford, Norwich and Bournemouth — started at longer odds to win the Premier League.
Foxes manager Claudio Ranieri, who replaced sacked former Leicester boss Nigel Pearson in preseason, was derided as the ‘Tinkerman’ when he first made his name in English football as Chelsea manager from 2000-04.
But under the Italian’s guidance the likes of Algeria winger Riyad Mahrez, named last week as the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year, and leading scorer Jamie Vardy have enjoyed the best seasons of their careers, with the Foxes all-action game proving hard to resist in a campaign where they’ve lost just three league games to date.
When Leicester appointed Ranieri, lifelong Foxes fan and former Leicester Tottenham Man City Arsenal Man Utd West Ham Liverpool Southampton Chelsea Stoke Everton Watford West Brom Bournemouth Swansea Crystal Palace Sunderland Norwich Newcastle Aston Villa 35 22 10 3 63 3376 35 19 12 4 65 2669 35 19 7 9 66 3464 35 18 10 7 58 3464 34 17 8 9 423059 34 14 14 6 57 4356 34 15 10 9 58 4555 35 15 9 11 49 3754 34 12 11 11 53 4647 35 13 8 14 37 51 47 34 9 14 11 53 48 41 34 11 8 15 334041 35 10 11 14 32 43 41 35 11 8 16 42 61 41 35 10 10 15 34 4940 35 10 9 16 36 4539 34 7 10 17 39 57 31 34 8 7 19 35 60 31 35 7 9 19 38 6430 35 3 7 25 25 69 16 England striker Gary Lineker, who started his career with his hometown club, tweeted: “Claudio Ranieri, really?”
Lineker subsequently admitted: “Oh how wrong I was, how wonderfully, spectacularly, blissfully wrong.”
The only downside for Leicester’s best-known supporter is that it looks as if he may have to make good on a promise to present the BBC’s flagship Match of the Day football programme in his underpants if the Foxes win the title.