Leicester City make true believers of us all as they firm to Premier League title favourites

IT’S the fairytale that refuses to quit. And Leicester City’s most unlikely English Premier League title charge is starting to get more and more believable.

Leicester City v Manchester United - Premier League

IT’S the fairytale that refuses to quit.

Just where it will end no one knows, but Leicester City’s most unlikely English Premier League title charge is starting to get more and more believable.

Just ask Manchester City.

The team that was in the English Championship less than two years ago — and one that many tipped for relegation this season — sits five points clear at the top with 13 games to play.

At the same time last year it was on the bottom and five points behind 19th, yet somehow managed to avoid the drop.

Everyone thought Leicester’s charmed run would start to stutter with daunting games against Liverpool (home) last week and City (away) on the weekend.

But after a 2-0 win over the Reds and an even more stunning 3-1 victory over the Sky Blues of Manchester, Leicester are now the outright title favourites.

After their upcoming trip to Arsenal, the Foxes then face nine teams in a row that are all outside the top five.

The last 11 league leaders on February 1 have gone on to win the title, so Claudio Ranieri’s band of battlers have a golden opportunity to complete what would be one of the most unlikely championship victories in the history of professional sport.

Jamie Vardy epitomises Leicester’s winning combination of hard graft and talent.

Of course, the term “battlers” is a little flippant.

When a team spends an estimated $99m (AUD) on its wage bill for the 2015-16 season it’s not as if the players are exactly strapped for cash.

But comparatively speaking, when the spending of Arsenal ($397m), Manchester City ($400m) and Manchester United ($419m) knows no bounds, Leicester’s feats are all the more remarkable.

And especially astonishing in this topsy turvy season is the fact that Chelsea, with a league-high wage spend of $445m, languishes in 13th.

After signing a mega contract extension on the weekend, Jamie Vardy has received the first of what surely will be many hefty pay rises for the club’s plethora of bolt-from-the-blue stars.

As a 20-year-old Vardy was working 12-hour factory shifts to supplement his income while playing for seventh-tier side Stocksbridge.

At 25 he was playing non-league football for Fleetwood Town and now at 29, after a slow start to his time with Leicester in the Championship, he holds the EPL record for scoring in consecutive games, finding the net in 11 matches in a row earlier this season.

Melbourne City captain Patrick Kisnorbo played 126 games for Leicester between 2005-09 in a stint that included time in both the Championship and League One.

The transition period meant the club was “completely different” then to what it is now.

“But the club has always had the base there,” he said.

“Leicester is a great club, it’s a family club, has great facilities and a great stadium.

“And the fans, imagine what it’s like for them now? It’s hope, isn’t it?

“Week after week now they’re all excited because they know their team has a sniff of the title.

“Probably before the season they would have just been happy to go to games and by the end of the season just survive relegation and stay another season in the Premier League.

“Now they’re going to places like Tottenham and thinking they can win, which they did, Chelsea come and they think they can win, which they did.

“So with that belief among the fans, the town would be buzzing.

“Ranieri is tactically very good with his Italian background and he’s coached the biggest clubs in the world — Chelsea, Monaco — so his experience is invaluable.

“To see them top, I don’t think anyone would have thought that was possible, but it’s such a great thing.

“It shows that it doesn’t matter how much people invest, it’s all about the players and the group.

“They’re a strong group, smart tactically and they all work for each other. That comes down to the club and the coaches there.”

Originally published as Leicester City make true believers of us all as they firm to Premier League title favourites