Leicester City: Things back to Status Quo at King Power Stadium

Status Quo has returned to the city of Leicester.

No, not the 60s boogie rock band, but the traditional order of things wherein everybody’s once favorite football betting underdog is back to the end of the line when it comes to looking for the best sportsbook odds of winning the 2016-2017 England Premier League.

Not everything’s the same, of course; Leicester City lost several players during the offseason – most notoriously French midfielder N’Golo Kanté, who signed for five seasons with Chelsea FC for a reported £32 million.

Unfortunately for the Foxes, the 2015-15 campaign was one of the biggest upsets in the history of football betting, but it may have been one of the biggest flukes as well.

Last season, Leicester opened with a win over Sunderland.

They followed up with a victory over West Ham United to get off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2002-03 (counting seasons spent in Football League Championship).

Then they tied with Tottenham Hostspur and Bornemouth, defeated Aston Villa, and tied with Stoke City before conceding their first loss to Arsenal.

Sluggish start

This season, however, the Blues started off with 1-2 defeat to Hull City and a tie with Arsenal, only winning their first game versus Swansea City. Then, Leicester City lost to Liverpool 4-1, beat Burnley, and fell to Manchester United, once again 4-1.

So far, Leicester has a 2-1-3 record and is 12th in the league table. A state of affairs more in accordance to the season prior to their Premier League championship win.

In 2014-15, Leicester City tied with Everton, lost to Chelsea, tied with Arsenal, beat Stoke City and Manchester United, and lost to Crystal Palace, for 2-2-2 start.

Leicester finished that season in 14th place, not far from where they are now.

Busy summer for their rivals

Obviously, the Premier League’s premier clubs did not take kindly to a latecomer like Leicester City usurping their rightful spots at the very tippy top, nor did they sit idly by during the off-season market.

Manchester City made the most waves by bringing in the unapologetic manager Josep Guardiola, a move that has paid off so far; City leads the league with six wins and 18 points and is the heavy football betting favorite to win the title.

Fellow Mancunian team United paid Juventus a ludicrous amount of money for Paul Pogba. And Arsenal gave a young and up-and-coming manager a chance to helm the club.

What’s his name? Arsene something.

Consolation

Leicester City does have the consolation of making their first appearance in the UEFA Champions League, where they’re not doing so badly, actually.

They have defeated Club Brugge and Porto – the latter of which bestowed them with the honor of scoring a goal against the bestest and greatest goalkeeper in the history of everything.

Leicester City leads Group G of the competition with 6 points and no goals allowed in two games. Their next fixture will be against FC Copenhagen on October 18th.

O-Posts