Leicester City's 2019/20 Season So Far
Rewinding back to August and the start of a brand new Premier League season, optimism was high. The Foxes remained unbeaten in the first month of the campaign, with new signing Dennis Praet moving seamlessly into central midfield, fast becoming a consistent performer alongside his fellow countryman, Youri Tielemans.
After draws against Wolves and Chelsea, Brendan Rodgers’ side won all three of the remaining games that month, edging past Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup and picking up their first home and away wins in the Premier League respectively. Four games, six goals and eight points on the board was a positive start after Rodgers’ first pre-season at the Club.
September began with defeat at Old Trafford, but that was quickly forgotten about by the Foxes faithful. A 2-1 victory over Spurs was followed by overcoming Luton Town 4-0 to progress in the Carabao Cup, a night to remember for one man in particular. Full-back James Justin, signed from the Hatters just three months earlier, got himself on the scoresheet to mark a dream debut against his former club.
Leicester then went one better in the league, putting five past Newcastle United with no reply in their biggest-ever home win in the Premier League era to date.
After recovering from defeat at the hands of soon-to-be runaway league leaders Liverpool, October proved to be a similar story. Wins over Burnley and Southampton, the latter an incredible 9-0 hammering away from home, preceded another comfortable Carabao Cup victory, this time against Burton Albion. That record-breaking night at St. Mary’s included hat-tricks from Premier League top goalscorer Jamie Vardy and summer signing Ayoze Pérez, whose three goals in the rout were the Spaniard’s first since his move from the Magpies.
City didn’t put a foot wrong in November, winning all three of their Premier League fixtures by a 2-0 scoreline to move up to second in the table, impressively sweeping aside Crystal Palace, Brighton & Hove Albion and Arsenal in the process. The latter result made history, too, as the first time Leicester have recorded three successive top-flight home wins over Arsenal in the Club’s history. A fourth consecutive clean sheet also underlined the blossoming new centre-back partnership between Jonny Evans and Turkey international Çağlar Söyüncü.
A typically busy December started very brightly - Everton, Watford and Aston Villa were all dispatched with relative ease. The Watford result, a 2-0 victory at King Power Stadium, was Leicester’s seventh Premier League win in a row, equalling a top-flight Club record set in 1963, which they later broke at Villa Park. A sticky patch followed as the Foxes tackled Norwich City, Manchester City and Liverpool, though Rodgers' charges did knock Everton out of the Carabao Cup at the quarter-final stage, again on penalties.
And the year would end with victory as a much-changed Leicester side beat West Ham United at London Stadium thanks to Demarai Gray’s winner - the winger’s first league goal of the season. The Hammers would be put to be sword once again less than a month later, as were Newcastle United at St. James' Park on New Year's Day.
Defeats by Southampton and Burnley were sandwiched in between, however, and Carabao Cup Semi-Final heartbreak against Aston Villa put a slight dampener on Leicester’s start to 2020, although two Emirates FA Cup games brought a duo of clean sheets against Sky Bet Championship opposition and secured progression into the Fifth Round.
February proved a tough month for the Foxes, ending in back-to-back 1-0 defeats versus Norwich and Manchester City. However, the points picked up in draws with Chelsea and Wolves could prove vital come the end of the season, as City look to maintain their current position, third in the Premier League.
March, meanwhile, ended prematurely, as that reverse at Villa was avenged with a resounding 4-0 victory at King Power Stadium, in the final game before the Premier League was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It included Vardy’s 99th Premier League strike and put him on the brink of becoming the first Foxes player to reach a century of goals in the division.
Two goals from wideman Harvey Barnes made it seven for the campaign in all competitions as he continued to enjoy a breakthrough season at the Club.
Leicester also booked a place in the Emirates FA Cup Quarter-Finals, beating Birmingham City to set up a last eight clash with Chelsea - set to be City’s third game after the resumption, which starts with a trip to Vicarage Road to face Watford and former manager, Nigel Pearson.
All of which means there is still so much to play for this summer for the Foxes.