The Unbeaten Foxes

- Claudio Ranieri’s side could set a new Club record if they avoid defeat at home to Aston Villa next Sunday 

- Two previous runs of eight Premier League games unbeaten came in 1998/99 and 2000/01 

- City have also set a new Club record of five Premier League away games without defeat 

Jamie Vardy’s late penalty at AFC Bournemouth last Saturday afternoon not only sealed another point, but helped the Foxes equal their record unbeaten run in the Barclays Premier League. 

Claudio Ranieri’s side have began the season with four unbeaten Premier League matches, and combined with four unbeaten under Nigel Pearson at the end of the last campaign are now without defeat in eight games. 

That is a feat that the Foxes have achieved just twice before in the Premier League era, in 1998/99 and again in 2000/01. But how do those runs compare? 

Well in each of the 1998/99 and 2000/01 sequences under Martin O’Neill and Peter Taylor respectively, City ended those eight games with a total of 16 points, however the current run sees them with an impressive 18 points from a possible 24. 

Riyad Mahrez is by far and away the top scorer across all three runs with an impressive six goals in City’s last eight. That’s compared to a highest of two goals in the other two runs, scored by Steve Guppy, Tony Cottee, Ian Marshall and Adi Akinbiyi. 

Also on the scoring front, the numbers favour the 2014/15 & 2015/16 run with an astonishing total of 18 goals from just eight games. This is some way clear of the total of 10 goals scored in 1998/99 and seven goals in 2000/01. 

By far and away the most effective defence out of the three runs was that of 2000/01, who shipped just two goals en route to their total of 16 points from eight games. The 1998/00 group also did well, conceding just five goals while the current run has seen City give up only one more than that with a total of six goals. 

The current crop have a chance to set a new Club record of nine Premier League games without defeat on Sunday week when they tackle midlands rivals Aston Villa at King Power Stadium, but how did the other two runs end? 

Well in 1998/99 Martin O’Neill’s side travelled to face Southampton at the Dell, where they surrendered a 1-0 lead to fall 2-1 at the hands of Chris Marsden and James Beattie goals. 

The 2000/01 run under Peter Taylor began from the start of the season but to make it nine games they faced a difficult test against a star-studded Manchester United. On the day a Teddy Sheringham brace and a late Ole Gunnar Solskjaer strike did the damage in a 3-0 win. 

On a related note, the Foxes have also set a Club record of five away Premier League games unbeaten for the first time, having not lost since a 4-3 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in March. West Brom, Burnley, Sunderland, West Ham and AFC Bournemouth have all tried and failed to beat them since. 

How well do you remember our unbeaten runs? Check out our table below…

  

1998/99	2000/01	2014/15 & 2015/16
Game 1: Saturday 6 March, 1999 Wimbledon 0-1 City Goal: Guppy 6	Game 1: Saturday 19 August, 2000 City 0-0 Aston Villa	Game 1: Saturday 2 May, 2015 City 3-0 Newcastle Goals: Ulloa 1, pen 48, Morgan 17
Game 2: Saturday 13 March, 1999 City 1-1 Charlton Goals: Lennon 60; Mendonca 90	Game 2: Wednesday 23 August, 2000 West Ham 0-1 City Goal: Eadie 54	Game 2: Saturday 9 May, 2015 City 2-0 Southampton Goals: Mahrez 7, 19
Game 3: Saturday 3 April, 1999 Spurs 0-2 City Goals: Elliott 43, Cottee 67	Game 3: Saturday 26 August, 2000 Bradford 0-0 City	Game 3: Saturday 16 May, 2015 Sunderland 0-0 City
Game 4: Tuesday 6 April, 1999 City 2-2 Aston Villa Goals: Savage 63, Cottee 71; Hendrie, Joachim 49	Game 4: Wednesday 6 September, 2000 City 2-1 Ipswich Goals: Akinbiyi 57, Elliott 73; Magilton pen 89	Game 4: Sunday 24 May, 2015 City 5-1 QPR Goals: Vardy 16, Albrighton 43, Ulloa 51, Cambiasso 52, Kramarić  86; Austin 57
Game 5: Saturday 10 April, 1999 City 0-0 West Ham	Game 5: Saturday 9 September, 2000 City 1-0 Southampton Goal: Taggart 66	Game 5: Saturday 8 August, 2015 City 4-2 Sunderland Goals: Vardy 11, Mahrez 18, pen 25, Albrighton 66; Defoe 60, Fletcher 71
Game 6: Sunday 18 April, 1999 Chelsea 2-2 City Goals: Zola 30, Elliott og 69; Duberry og 82, Guppy 88	Game 6: Sunday 17 September, 2000 Chelsea 0-2 City Goals: Izzet 8, Collymore 82	Game 6:  Saturday 15 August, 2015 West Ham 1-2 City Goals: Payet 55; Okazaki 27, Mahrez 38
Game 7: Wednesday 21 April, 1999 Liverpool 0-1 City Goal: Marshall 90	Game 7: Sunday 24 September, 2000 City 1-1 Everton Goals: Akinbiyi 23; Unsworth 52	Game 7: Saturday 22 August, 2015 City 1-1 Spurs Goals: Mahrez 82; Alli 81
Game 8:  Saturday 24 April, 1999 City 1-0 Coventry Goal: Marshall 45	Game 8: Sunday 1 October, 2000 Sunderland 0-0 City	Game 8: Saturday 29 August, 2015 Bournemouth 1-1 City Goals: Wilson 24; Vardy pen 86
Goals scored: 10	Goals scored: 7	Goals scored: 18
Goals against: 5	Goals against: 2	Goals against: 6
Top scorers: Guppy, Cottee, Marshall (all 2)	Top scorer: Akinbiyi (2)	Top scorer: Mahrez (6)
Points: 16	Points: 16	Points: 18