Home   >   Opinion   >   What is Leicester City’s best target for 2016?

What is Leicester City’s best target for 2016?

By on December 29, 2015

I do wish Leicester City would prove the world wrong. It’s amazing to have witnessed a collection of up-and-comers rising from the Championship to take down the league’s rich kids one by one in an utterly captivating fashion. Claudio Ranieri is perhaps the most personable manager in the Premier League and his side represent a breath of fresh air, a bolt of youthful energy in the EPL.

Heading into 2016, Leicester are joint top of the table with Arsenal after nineteen matches and are already just a single point away from reaching Ranieri’s full season target of forty points. The club’s draw with Manchester City tonight provided further proof that they’ve reached their table position fully on the basis of merit. Nevertheless, no one expects them to replicate this impressive deed in the second half of the season.

Ranieri has insisted that his team maintain their feet on the ground, focused solely on the forty point mark, but what lies beyond that threshold, now that it is so clearly within reach? What is a realistically attainable target for Leicester? Here is what Leicester should hope for in the New Year and why lifting the Premier League title is more appropriately the stuff for dreamers at King Power Stadium.

Over the years, the Premier League has very often witnessed one or two traditionally mid-table teams find form early in the season and break into the top four in the late fall: Southampton, West Ham, and Swansea City have all had their moments of glory in recent years, to name a few. Yet none of these teams has come close to demonstrating the prowess that Leicester City currently display.

Coming into the holidays, Leicester’s form was expected to tail off with a grueling run of form; instead, the club notched statement wins over Chelsea and Everton and equally impressive draws with both Manchester clubs. At the same time, Jamie Vardy leapt into the record books, leading Leicester into unprecedented territory as well.

Only on Boxing Day did cracks began to appear in Leicester’s squad, which, frankly, could be expected of any team over the EPL’s grueling holiday fixture list. If anything, Leicester have been more infallible than other Premier League title rivals this season.

After two consecutive goalless draws, we’ve learned that Leicester remain quite reliant on the irrepressible form of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, who have scored twenty-eight of their thirty-seven league goals this season, up front. Ranieri, to his credit, recognizes this: “Everybody works hard, but without [Mahrez and Vardy] we cannot win,” he mused after Leicester’s 2-1 win over Chelsea. Neither were 100% fit in Leicester’s second loss of the season, against Liverpool on Boxing Day, and although Leicester were still dangerous they lost the lethal edge that has carried them to the top of the table.

There’s little that can be done to solve this problem, however, as Ranieri simply doesn’t have the funds to buy another top-of-the-line forward and the likelihood of striking gold again in the near term (note Vardy’s incredible rise from the non-leagues and the excellent signing of Mahrez from the French lower leagues) is slim. Leicester are simply happy with what they have and as long as the pair can stay fit — they’ve already proved that they’re capable of consistency — The Foxes’ front line is just about set.

Already, it’s safe to say Leicester have a strong chance at a European place, considering all they may need is half of the point tally they’ve collected in the first half of the season to secure a Europa League spot. Barring a disaster such as an injury to their front-line, they’ve got a fighting chance of Champions League qualification.

But the title race is an entirely different game. Leicester proved that they’re capable of entering the mix with a draw against Manchester City today (if anything, they left the pitch with a twinge of regret over a string of missed chances), granted, they were facing a City team just picking itself back onto its feet after a poor run of form.

The only thing that separates Leicester’s current team (besides their name, more on that later) is an elite defense. Of the past ten title winners, only Manchester United have topped the league without allowing the fewest or second fewest number of goals over the course of their triumphant campaign. Leicester have already allowed more goals than the title winner six out of the last ten Premier League seasons and have allowed more goals of any other team in the top half of the table. On sole account of their defense, Ranieri’s men would be thirteenth in an alternate league table.

Of course, these are only far-off lingering clouds hanging over the New Years’ street parties in Leicester. So far, their backline has stepped up to the plate admirably when it really matters, allowing just four goals in five meetings with the Premier League’s big six (barring a 5-2 demolition from Arsenal in September, of course). On the few occasions they’ve tripped up, their front-line has been there to bail the team out of trouble. So many things could catch them up over the ensuing four-and-a-half months that it’s unlikely that they’ll be at the very top of the league near the end of the season.

Given the big boys have been slipping all over the place so far this season, Leicester’s biggest enemy is their own mentality heading into the latter half of their campaign. Perhaps they allowed themselves to look down and enjoy the view for the briefest of moments for the first time this season against Manchester City today, but it’s up to Ranieri to realign his team’s focus and prevent them from daydreaming or anticipating their own downfall. Leicester can’t yet look up or down if it’s a top four finish they really want (which seems a realistic target), simply straight ahead.

Homepage photo credit: Ben Sutherland, via Flickr

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.