Flying Foxes: How Leicester City became genuine title contenders

Two matches. One a potentially decisive showdown between title contenders, with the home side looking to end 2015 on top of the Premier League. The other a lumpen kickabout between teams in 6th and 16th.

You know where this is going, but it still boggles the mind to see Leicester City slugging it out at the top of the table while the champions lie within one defeat of the relegation zone.

They have not fluked it either – Leicester are where they are on merit.

Having won 4 of their first 29 Premier League games last season, they have since won 18 of 27, losing just three times.

So as they look to round off the most incredible nine months in top flight history, we look at just how they have done it.

Jose Mourinho’s prime frustration in his legendary ‘betrayed’ rant after Chelsea’s loss at the King Power Stadium was that he had told his players what Leicester were going to do, but his players still failed to stop them. Well, yes, Jose. Everyone knows that Riyad Mahrez will cut back on to his left foot, and everyone knows Jamie Vardy will sprint between the centre-backs. But knowing it alone is not enough – the pair have combined for 28(!) Premier League goals this season.

Of all the top teams, Leicester have been by far the most efficient at knocking off teams lower down in the table. Avoiding slip-ups against the lesser lights is usually the sign of champions - and in recent weeks Leicester have swatted away West Brom, Watford, Newcastle, Swansea, Everton and indeed Chelsea – only dropping points against Manchester United and Liverpool. Despite a far-from-watertight defence, they have been remarkably consistent.

Is this the season when managerial ego and bluster take a back seat? When Claudio Ranieri replaced Nigel Pearson he could have stamped his authority on the club and made wholesale changes. Instead he had the wisdom to keep what was good, cut out the headlocks and ostrich-calling, and build on the momentum of springtime.

It is not just Vardy and Mahrez who are playing above themselves. Wes Morgan, N’Golo Kante, Marc Albrighton... everywhere you look there are players performing at a level that few believed possible. Leicester are the perfect embodiment of what happens when a squad plays with confidence.

Coincidence that Leicester’s second defeat of the season came when Vardy was suffering from a fever and lacked sharpness (before being taken off)? Probably not. For all their collective overachievement and spirit, Leicester are heavily reliant on the Vardy-Mahrez combination – their fitness is vital.

Will it last? The head says surely not, but the heart wishes passionately that the fairytale continues into the spring.

The days have gone, we are told, since Brian Clough could win the title with Derby County or Nottingham Forest. Across the East Midlands, Leicester are looking to prove the doubters wrong.