Brendan Rodgers’ team can be brilliant but could go backwards if they do not adequately address shortcomingsGuardian writers’ predicted position: 7th (NB: this is not necessarily Paul Doyle’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)Last season’s position: 5th Related: Lava touches and teal accents: the Premier League's 2020-21 kits Originally known as Leicester Fosse until someone decided in 1919 that City sounded grander than a fortified ditch, they have been an entertaining yo-yo club for most of their existence: no one has claimed more second-tier titles and no club has reached the FA Cup final more often without lifting the trophy. In 2002-03, they gained promotion to the Premier League despite entering administration and having to be rescued by...
Despite a dismal run of form caused by injuries and rivals countering Jamie Vardy, reaching Europe signals a triumphant season, even if they miss out on the Champions LeagueIt is the age of data and yet it is also the age of impatience. It is an age when Match of the Day provides the xG and yet a manager can come under pressure after three defeats. It is the age when most people understand the phrase “regression to the mean”, yet it is also an age when mayflies have begun using “Watford head coach” to denote something with a short lifespan. There is something deeply paradoxical about the present era of football.Which brings us to Brendan Rodgers. Leicester will qualify...
The striker is close to driving Leicester back to the Champions League and leads Aubameyang in the golden boot standingsIt was the kind of prediction you could not help suspecting might come back to haunt Ashley Cole. Assessing Arsenal’s chances of keeping Jamie Vardy quiet with a backline consisting of David Luiz, Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolasinac, the former England defender seemed confident enough.“They’re well equipped to deal with Vardy,” Cole told Sky before the match. “He won’t cause them any trouble.” But on a night when Leicester desperately needed their leading man to write another chapter in his remarkable story, the Premier League’s leading goalscorer was always destined to have the last laugh. Related: Jamie Vardy's late goal earns...
Frank Lampard is building a free-flowing attacking style and the World Cup winner does not surprise in possessionThe trouble with N’Golo Kanté, you see, is that he’s too good at winning the ball. Other players tackle, block, deflect, get their foot in. Kanté actually goes and takes the ball for himself. The two or three seconds when Kanté spots a ball he can win, chases it down and then simply prises it away, like the skin from a roasted garlic clove, are some of the most thrilling seconds on offer in the sport. At which point you have a slight problem, in that – having won the ball – Kanté now has to do something with it. Related: Ross Barkley...
Spare a thought for the Premier League’s current top scorer, whose own season is one of the great unfinished subplotsThere have been a lot of lists doing the rounds this week of the best foods to boost your immune system. These seem to be mainly things such as oily fish, yoghurt, spinach, elderberries, ginger and raw shaved garlic, although having followed these ingredients to the letter I can confirm they don’t actually make for a very nice sandwich.From a Premier League perspective there are some notable absences from the roster of miracle foods. Cheese and ham omelettes. Shotgunned cans of Red Bull. Skittles dissolved in vodka. Chewing tobacco. Watered-down port drunk from an old Lucozade bottle. Related: It's only a...