With nine wins out off fifteen so far, it’s Leicester City who’s on top of the table with a 3-0 demolition of Swansea last Saturday.
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Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri is adamant that former side Chelsea will turn their season around and finish inside the Premier League’s top four places. If all you’ve talked about for an entire season is trying to earn 40 points, once you do so it’s natural to relax. By instructing his stars to only be concerned with achieving the magical 40 point mark for Premier League safety, he’s setting them up for a dip in form.
He said: “I enjoy when I see a good spirit, I am very happy”.
And it’s been some history at 125-year-old Bournemouth, with the south-coast team coming close to being relegated from the fourth professional division in England and going out of business entirely over the last decade.
It may turn out to be one of the best decisions Roberto Martinez has ever made however; the 21-year-old has been in exceptional form this season, showing glimpses of realising the potential many believed him to have at the Nou Camp.
The defending champions have lost four of their last six league games and manager Jose Mourinho admitted they could miss out on qualification for the Champions League after the weekend’s surprise loss to Bournemouth.
A home fixture against newly-promoted Bournemouth should have been the flawless cure, but a late Glenn Murray header must have been akin to a piercing alarm on a stuffy morning when it condemned them to a 1-0 defeat. Just this past weekend, the Hammers held a rather boring Manchester United side to a draw. Leicester may have a situation where some players love being there and don’t want to move and they will have some who do want to move to Manchester United, or Liverpool or Real Madrid.
Jamie Vardy had chances to equal Jimmy Dunne’s record of scoring in 12 consecutive top-flight games, but for the first time in a long time he couldn’t quite find the finishing touch.
Leicester’s team have not seen Ranieri’s ruthless streak yet thanks to their incredible start to the campaign that has seen them rise to top of the table.
“In this game we are playing with the same players in the last three games”, Pellegrini said, bemoaning injuries to Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero.
“Every football club needs to win matches and that’s no secret”. Tottenham remains three points behind United – the only team to beat the north London club in the league on the opening day.
Aston Villa stopped its two-game losing streak, but it didn’t win.
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A further positive comes with a clean bill of health for near enough the entire team – long-term absentee Falcao is the only man unavailable for selection – meaning Mourinho has few excuses not to kick on from this low point.
