Leicester - the title is still theirs to lose.

[Rafateria]

I still fancy them to win it - if Kante, Vardy, Mahrez and Drinkwater remain fit. They have the easiest run-in and will be the least fatigued team.

Leicester (1st) : The players have now been sent on a week's rest since they don't have a game for 2 weeks. Their toughest remaining matches are Away at United, Southampton (H) and Chelsea (H). I can see 77-80 pts.

Arsenal (2nd) : 2 CL matches coming up and still in the FAC (should progress at home to Hull). They don't have many tough matches remaining but still all of those are away from home and there are 4 derby matches in there too ; Everton (A), United (A), City (A) and West Ham (A). I can see 74-77 pts.

Spurs (3rd) : 2 EL matches coming up and still in the FAC (should progress at home to Crystal Palace). They also have a lot of tough matches having, amongst others, still to play ; Arsenal (H), Chelsea (A), United (H), Stoke (A), Liverpool (A), West Ham (A), Southampton (H). I can see 72-75 pts.

City (4th) : The busiest of them all with 2 CL matches, LC final coming up and they are still in the FAC (away at Chelsea they may lose or possibly add another fixture to their list with a replay on the cards). Still have a few tough matches to test them; Arsenal (H), Stoke (H), Chelsea (A), United (H), Southampton (A), Liverpool (A). I think they'll drop the most points and I can only see 70-74 pts.

 

[Pink Moon]

Their fixtures are decent so I still have them favourites.

The overreaction to yesterday within the media is nauseating. Can't wait for the wankfest to be over and the media to notice Arsenal face a trip to United while Leicester have one of the easiest games possible at home and the 3 points from yesterday are reversed.

If ever there was a time for this United side to get their finger out and properly pummel somebody please be now.

 

[tarjei2k]

I'd like to see them win it, but... We've seen time and time again how the inexperienced teams buckle under the pressure when the going gets hot. I have my doubts, but I do hope they take it.

 

[Sarni]

I'd like to see them win it, but... We've seen time and time again how the inexperienced teams buckle under the pressure when the going gets hot. I have my doubts, but I do hope they take it.

How many times has a team like Leicester had a shot at title and how are Arsenal and Tottenham more experienced at title races seeing as neither of them have been in one for years (in Spurs case decades)? None of Arsenal players have won Premier League there, ditto Tottenham. If anything they will feel more pressure because they are expected to make a push from here, for Leicester everything from here is bonus. We witnessed with Atletico in 2014 how focus and dedication can work wonders in title race.

 

[ottosec]

Look at those City fixtures, they will drop a lot of points by the end of the season. Too bad we can't win a game to save our lives, hopefully Southampton or West Ham can catch them.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Really hope they do it. Good thing for them is that they are up against Arsenal and Spurs, rather than United and Chelsea of old.

 

[rcoobc]

Really hope they do it. Good thing for them is that they are up against Arsenal and Spurs, rather than United and Chelsea of old.

Aint this the truth. I'm not worried about either Spurs or Arsenal catching them. I think that would be more of a shock than if Leicester did it...

The big thing with Leicester is they now have 6 or so winnable games in a row. I think if they win their next game against Norwich by a few goals, then they will win the league. If the struggle or the nerves seemed to have got to them, then they won't

Norwich (h), West Brom (h), Watford (a), Newcastle (h), Palace (a), Southampton (h), Sunderland (a), West Ham (h), Swansea (h)... followed by United, Everton, Chelsea. Then need to win 6 of their next 9 games at a minimum. The even should win 6 of their next 9 games.

 

[Billy Blaggs]

I think they'll just about stumble over the line.

 

[Snow]

I have them as favorites as well if they come back from that last minute defeat and beat Norwich (nothing is given). They're coasting on such high morale and have most of the country behind them. That's one advantage besides being able to focus on a single competition. Last few games will be huge. I'm sure Arsenal and Tottenham will stay close at least and be out of Europe by the time late April arrives and there's a week between games for everyone.

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

Gap is now two points to two teams that are better than them. Their advantage is that they only have the league to worry about, but I think Arsenal or Spurs will win it. Farcical season really.

 

[Vidicious]

I don't care who wins as long as it's not Arsenal.

It would be nauseating.

Welbeck can feck off as well, the lanky prick.

 

[Raoul]

I still fancy them to win it - if Kante, Vardy, Mahrez and Drinkwater remain fit. They have the easiest run-in and will be the least fatigued team.

Leicester (1st) : The players have now been sent on a week's rest since they don't have a game for 2 weeks. Their toughest remaining matches are Away at United, Southampton (H) and Chelsea (H). I can see 77-80 pts.

Arsenal (2nd) : 2 CL matches coming up and still in the FAC (should progress at home to Hull). They don't have many tough matches remaining but still all of those are away from home and there are 4 derby matches in there too ; Everton (A), United (A), City (A) and West Ham (A). I can see 74-77 pts.

Spurs (3rd) : 2 EL matches coming up and still in the FAC (should progress at home to Crystal Palace). They also have a lot of tough matches having, amongst others, still to play ; Arsenal (H), Chelsea (A), United (H), Stoke (A), Liverpool (A), West Ham (A), Southampton (H). I can see 72-75 pts.

City (4th) : The busiest of them all with 2 CL matches, LC final coming up and they are still in the FAC (away at Chelsea they may lose or possibly add another fixture to their list with a replay on the cards). Still have a few tough matches to test them; Arsenal (H), Stoke (H), Chelsea (A), United (H), Southampton (A), Liverpool (A). I think they'll drop the most points and I can only see 70-74 pts.

It would be theirs to lose if they were an experienced title winning side with experience closing the deal AND were up 10 points now. As it stands, there are 12 games remaining and they are up by a whopping 2 points with Spurs having a better goal differential.

 

[rcoobc]

It would be theirs to lose if they were an experienced title winning side with experience closing the deal AND were up 10 points now. As it stands, there are 12 games remaining and they are up by a whopping 2 points with Spurs having a better goal differential.

Their run-in is the stuff of dreams though. It's Camembert cheese. Ranieri must be laughing.

They've got to try and win all of the next 9 games, but they are all winnable, and then they can win the thing with 3 games to spare.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

How things change. This place hated Leicester after the 5-3. Vardy was the cnut of all cnuts, and most cheered on their impending relegation, which they somehow smashed their way out of with aplomb. Now we want them to win the league.

I preferred football when we were winning all the time. I don't know what's going on anymore.

 

[Laphroaig]

How many times has a team like Leicester had a shot at title and how are Arsenal and Tottenham more experienced at title races seeing as neither of them have been in one for years (in Spurs case decades)? None of Arsenal players have won Premier League there, ditto Tottenham. If anything they will feel more pressure because they are expected to make a push from here, for Leicester everything from here is bonus. We witnessed with Atletico in 2014 how focus and dedication can work wonders in title race.

True, but I'd still say the gap between Arsenal and Spurs is massive. Wenger and plenty of the players have been there and done that (Cech, Sanchez, Özil, uh... Surely more?), while Spurs are noobs from staff to players.

 

[rcoobc]

How things change. This place hated Leicester after the 5-3. Vardy was the cnut of all cnuts, and most cheered on their impending relegation, which they somehow smashed their way out of with aplomb. Now we want them to win the league.

I preferred football when we were winning all the time. I don't know what's going on anymore.

All of this is true. Vardy had one good game damnit. He's an erchin!

 

[rcoobc]

True, but I'd still say the gap between Arsenal and Spurs is massive. Wenger and plenty of the players have been there and done that (Cech, Sanchez, Özil, uh... Surely more?), while Spurs are noobs from staff to players.

Well Leicester do have Huth!

 

[pseudo_canadian]

I don't care who wins as long as it's not Arsenal.

It would be nauseating.

Welbeck can feck off as well, the lanky prick.

I'm in the same boat as well. Don't care who wins, as long as it's not Arsenal.

It's quite easily the worst case scenario.

 

[Tarrou]

Here's the remaining fixtures sorted by difficulty, for anyone interested...

Leicester's look great, but Arsenal have a nice run-in too

Villa are fecked!

Spoiler

[/quote]

 

[littlepeasoup]

How things change. This place hated Leicester after the 5-3. Vardy was the cnut of all cnuts, and most cheered on their impending relegation, which they somehow smashed their way out of with aplomb. Now we want them to win the league.

I preferred football when we were winning all the time. I don't know what's going on anymore.

I absolutely still think Vardy is a cnut, and I know enough Leicester fans that will be absolutely unbearable if they win the league. Don't want this to happen.

 

[WhoDaGOAT]

I'm almost more nervous checking on Leicester results than I have been when watching United during title challenges down the years.

I really want this miracle to come to fruition. I believe that the pressure will take its toll on them but hope that they can scramble across the line.

They have the luxury of being able to treat each game as a cup final and hold an advantage with their rest period betweens games.

Spurs are my favourites for the title.

 

[littlepeasoup]

Here's the remaining fixtures sorted by difficulty, for anyone interested...

Leicester's look great, but Arsenal have a nice run-in too

Villa are fecked!

Good. Should be a test case in how not to run a football club. They've been a shambles for a long time.

 

[Nighteyes]

I fancy City for the title. Leicester are an unknown quantity but it's almost certain that Arsenal and Spurs will bottle it at some point.

 

[Laphroaig]

Well Leicester do have Huth!

Hah, Huth's two league trophies as a backup beats Alderwereids single trophy as a backup, so Spurs even has less trophies between them than Leicester. (Not counting Spurs' many Eredivisie winners). Embarrassingly Raniere has won as few as Poch - zero.

 

[El Zoido]

I hope Leicester win it but I have a feeling they'll bottle it and drop points against teams they should beat.

 

[WhoDaGOAT]

I fancy City for the title. Leicester are an unknown quality but it's almost certain that Arsenal and Spurs will bottle it at some point.

City? They are no better than us. A shambles over the past few months.

 

[Randall Flagg]

I'm 100% sure they won't win it sadly

Would also like Spurs to do, but I don't see it

Reckon Arsenal have it in the bag

 

[JSArsenal]

Hopefully, the manner of their defeat has an adverse effect on them and it all comes crashing down for Leicester.

If they had held on with 10 men and gone 5 points clear then I think the momentum from that would have seen them over the line. I think if we had won the game 3-0 without any major controversies they would still be fine.

The manner of the defeat was crushing though, last kick of the game after holding out for most of the second half. Kasper going around the pitch trying to pick up his team mates who had collapsed on the turf. They didn't even try to boot the ball up field once the game restarted. Raineri's comments after the game sound like the result really got to him but he's still trying to maintain this image of everything's fine and we'll bounce back.

The mental aspects of the game count just as much as the fixture list for me. After the Birmingham incident in 2008, we faced Villa, Wigan and Middlesborough and didn't win one game. Our players were done after St. Andrews despite our easy run in.

Same with Liverpool after the Chelsea game in 2014, a team that believes is going to win the title doesn't let a 3 goal lead slip in less than a half hour.

Meh, Leicester may very well beat Norwich and have far more mental strength than I'm currently giving them credit for. The wheels won't come falling off completely of course, I'm just saying the result yesterday means they probably won't cruise to the title like they might have done if they left with a point.

 

[Rafateria]

It would be theirs to lose if they were an experienced title winning side with experience closing the deal AND were up 10 points now. As it stands, there are 12 games remaining and they are up by a whopping 2 points with Spurs having a better goal differential.

And Spurs have a far harder remaining fixture list ... plus EL and FAC games (they'll likely get through the next round of both). In fact it seems from that table above that Leicester actually have the easiest run-in of any team in the league.

 

[Sarni]

I fancy City for the title. Leicester are an unknown quantity but it's almost certain that Arsenal and Spurs will bottle it at some point.

Yes indeed City are amazingly consistent.

 

[Pyroblazer]

City is out of the title race for me, it's between Leicester, Spurs and Arsenal now. I still think it won't be Arsenal, they will just drop many more points and a good humilation against Barca won't do much for their confidence either. Tottenham just looks so comfortable in most of their games right now, I think they have a good chance. Leicester has no European football and the best run of results at the end, they still have a very good chance, but it will be interesting how they deal with the pressure and how they will cope if the smaller teams park the bus against them.

 

[Dominos]

City's injury problems are too great for them to mount a come back I'd think, they're likely to progress further than they usually do in the CL this season as well with the draw they got, which provides another distraction.

Aint this the truth. I'm not worried about either Spurs or Arsenal catching them. I think that would be more of a shock than if Leicester did it...

The big thing with Leicester is they now have 6 or so winnable games in a row. I think if they win their next game against Norwich by a few goals, then they will win the league. If the struggle or the nerves seemed to have got to them, then they won't

Norwich (h), West Brom (h), Watford (a), Newcastle (h), Palace (a), Southampton (h), Sunderland (a), West Ham (h), Swansea (h)... followed by United, Everton, Chelsea. Then need to win 6 of their next 9 games at a minimum. The even should win 6 of their next 9 games.

You'd really struggle to get a better 9 fixtures than that if you handpicked them yourself. I'm with you, if they don't get downhearted by that Arsenal debacle and beat Norwich, I'll start to believe they'll do it.

 

[crappycraperson]

It would be theirs to lose if they were an experienced title winning side with experience closing the deal AND were up 10 points now. As it stands, there are 12 games remaining and they are up by a whopping 2 points with Spurs having a better goal differential.

You have been predicting since November that they would have falter. Been close to 3 months since then and they are still leading. Them being up by 2 points at this stage is a massive accomplishment itself.

 

[Raoul]

You have been predicting since November that they would have falter. Been close to 3 months since then and they are still leading. Them being up by 2 points at this stage is a massive accomplishment itself.

Lets see where they finish. Their form over the next dozen fixtures is not guaranteed, nor is there a guarantee they can hold their nerve as the reality of winning the league looms.

 

[africanspur]

True, but I'd still say the gap between Arsenal and Spurs is massive. Wenger and plenty of the players have been there and done that (Cech, Sanchez, Özil, uh... Surely more?), while Spurs are noobs from staff to players.

I don't think the gap between us this season has been massive. Hence the current table and all the stats around it.

Not to say that they won't finish above us, they most likely will but I don't think arguments like that really fly tbh.

Plus Eriksen, Alderwierald, Vertonghen and Dembele all have league titles.


Not sure what City's injury problems are ow tbh, they lined up against us with Hart, Kompany, Yaya, Silva and Agüero, which is effectively their entire spine. Only De Bruyne and Navas seem to be out?

If they can keep that spine fit, I think they're still quite likely to go on a run if the players still have any intention if play for Pellegrini/ their prides.

 

[africanspur]

I still think Leicester have a good chance. However, people have been mentioning the only being in one competition thing as a positive.... In some ways it can be a negative.

I think all 3 of the rest of the too 4 play 3 times before the next league match? Leicester have two weeks to mull over what happened yesterday

 

[Bob Loblaw]

I still think Leicester have a good chance. However, people have been mentioning the only being in one competition thing as a positive.... In some ways it can be a negative.

I think all 3 of the rest of the too 4 play 3 times before the next league match? Leicester have two weeks to mull over what happened yesterday

Looking at their players yesterday (ok, they were a man down for a while) I think it's more positive than negative. Vardy looked dead on his feet against Arsenal, could definitely do with the two weeks break.

 

[africanspur]

Looking at their players yesterday (ok, they were a man down for a while) I think it's more positive than negative. Vardy looked dead on his feet against Arsenal, could definitely do with the two weeks break.

That is true.

That loss at whl against them may end up being so so costly.

 

[Dominos]

The mental aspects of the game count just as much as the fixture list for me. After the Birmingham incident in 2008, we faced Villa, Wigan and Middlesborough and didn't win one game. Our players were done after St. Andrews despite our easy run in.

You did go to the San Siro and win 2-0 a week later to be fair..

 

[Laphroaig]

...

I was addressing the question of inexperience with regards to winning, not quality.