Leicester City had an incredible 2015/16 season in the Premier League, winning the title for the first time in their history. That was also the first league title for the manager Claudio Ranieri, who is now concentrating on the transfer market and is also trying to keep his best players. We have to say that the Italian manager has convinced his stars to stay in the club. But will this be enough for The Foxes? To avoid relegation – yes, but nothing more than the middle of the table.
It will be very difficult for Leicester City to repeat such a performance. Firstly, their opponents won’t underestimate the Foxes, as they did in the previous season. But, maybe the most important factor is that Leicester City are going to take part in the Champions League – something that they have never done before and they will have to play much more games, than in the previous season. Of course, Ranieri is looking for new players, who will enlarge the Foxes’ bench, but in my opinion the Foxes are going to finish in the middle of the table.
In comparison, if we take a look at the occasional champions like Leeds United and Blackburn Rovers, we can see that Leeds finished in 17th position the next season after they won the title, while Blackburn managed to finish in 7th place in season 1995/96.
So, we mustn’t expect anything extraordinary from Leicester City. Yes, they have a good team, but they have never played so many matches in just one season. Imagine, that the team makes also a good cup run. They have already scheduled 38 league matches + 6 games in the Champions League group stage + at least 2 cup matches. The Foxes will play at least 46 games this season and if they progress in some of the tournaments, this number can increase to 50 or more.
At both ends, the miracle called Leicester will always be in the history of the modern football. But, they will hardly repeat their performance from the most memorable season in the history of the club.
