Will Leicester really win the Premier League title?

THREE points clear at the top of Premier League. No Cup distractions. Leicester City are dreaming. Maybe it’s time everyone else started dreaming too.

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THREE points clear at the top of Premier League at the end of January. No Cup distractions, no European fatigue. Leicester are really starting to dream.

The Foxes were back to their best against Stoke on the weekend. Mark Hughes’s transformed Potters have been talked of as possible top-four contenders but Leicester brushed them aside with ease.

Danny Drinkwater added to those calling for the midfielder to get an England cap with another classy display and his first goal of the season. Frenchman N’Golo Kante has made more tackles (93) and interceptions (92) than anyone else in the Premier League.

Jamie Vardy scored his first goal since returning from groin surgery to put any doubts to bed. And Riyad Mahrez shook off recent penalty misses with a delightfully delicate nutmeg that set up Leonardo Ulloa for the third.

“Nobody can believe it,” manager Claudio Ranieri said after the game. “Our fans are dreaming and I want them to continue to dream.”

Maybe it’s time everyone else should start dreaming too. Leicester winning the Premier League. It’s too ridiculous to consider. Right?

The Foxes are top for a reason. They have still, incredibly, have only lost twice in 23 games so far this season. They are second top of the goals scored column — only Man City have more. And they already have a 10-point cushion over Manchester United in fifth.

Ranieri said his team are targeting 79 points — historically enough to guarantee Champions League football — and as mentioned in this column last week, perhaps even enough to claim the title. It wouldn’t be the lowest points total in EPL history.

Claudio Ranieri is a shoo-in for manager of the year — but can he go even further?

Interestingly Leicester don’t lead in any of the main stats — possession, shots per game, assists — yet they continue to confound and outplay their opponents, letting them have the ball but pressuring mistakes and attacking with high intensity.

Ranieri has finally admitted he wants Leicester to stay on top and that he is looking for another striker into the January transfer window to take some of the pressure off Vardy. If the Tinkerman can find a new face worth 5-10 goals at this stage of the season, it could be history in the making.

There is still a long way to go, however, and Leicester face a stern examination in the coming weeks. Their next three fixtures are Liverpool at home, Manchester City away and Arsenal away. Given current form you’d say a win against Liverpool is likely, while draws are entirely possible in the other two. Five points from those games would be huge.

French midfielder N'Golo Kante has been hugely influential for Leicester.

And after that … An opportunity to do something really special. Norwich, West Brom, Watford, Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Southampton, Sunderland, West Ham and Swansea. Out of that list, only Palace have taken anything from Leicester this season.

That is nine games against teams Leicester would usually be scrapping amongst that offer a real chance to put a run together. The kind of run, at the stage of the season, that titles are made of.

Then the final hurdles: Man Utd, Everton and Chelsea. Three underachieving big-name teams offering an unforgiving but winnable climax to the season.

Chelsea finished first last term, while Leicester ended in 14th. Chelsea are 13th right now. What a story if the Foxes could flip that around on the last day of the season.

But it won’t happen. It couldn’t. It shouldn’t. But …

HIGHLIGHT

Liverpool’s 5-4 victory over Norwich was at once horrible and fantastic. Both teams’ defending was utterly shambolic but it was pure entertainment, even up to Jurgen Klopp’s glasses getting smashed in the Reds’ late celebrations.

LOWLIGHT

Arsenal, oh Arsenal. Even without Jose Mourinho winding them up, the Gunners still managed to lose to Chelsea in a way that illustrates why Wenger’s side haven’t won the title in so long. Diego Costa bullied them yet again and Cesc Fabregas taunted them with one of his best performances of the season. Will it all prove too much again?

DELIGHTFUL DELE

Tottenham have some great players but none more exciting than Deli Alli. We’ve mentioned the 19-year-old almost every week in this column and his goal-of-the-season contender against Crystal Palace illustrated what a talent Spurs have on their hands.

SOFT TOFFEES

Everton have scored 40 goals this season — but conceded 34. They have won just six games. For all the pretty football, they have achieved absolutely nothing. Roberto Martinez is a good coach but must evolve his thinking if the Blues are to get higher up the table.

NO LONGER UNITED

None of the 91 teams in English football have had fewer shots on target at home than Man Utd (35) in the league this season. The defeat to Southampton at Old Trafford was everything that’s gone wrong with Louis van Gaal’s reign. How much will it cost United to dig themselves out of this?