Who gets your vote? Two of our writers go against each other to debate how Claudio Ranieri's side will perform in the Premier League this season
The argument for | Tom Clee
At some stage, we are all going to have to accept that the Leicester City story is no fluke.
Overwhelming evidence can only be ignored for so long.
A late dash to avoid relegation soon morphed into a surprising start to the season, but ultimately ended up being a saunter to the title by 10 clear points.
Only the Manchester United side of Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season in charge have enjoyed a more comfortable cushion during the last decade.
Since things clicked into place in April of last year, the Foxes have lost just four times in 47 Premier League games – with each defeat coming months apart.
During that time, they have racked up 103 points at an average of 2.2 per game.
How long can a purple patch go on before it must simply be accepted as par for the course?
That only N’Golo Kante has chosen to depart the King Power over the summer – despite Kasper Schmeichel, Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy all being offered the chance to leave – is telling.
It would be disingenuous, meanwhile, to dismiss those who have arrived in his place, particularly given how highly their recruitment was praised last season.
Ahmed Musa and Nampalys Mendy have, after all, already impressed against the likes of Barcelona and Manchester United.
It is easy to dismiss their simple style, but – as we were reminded last season – knowing how a team play and being able to stop them are entirely different things.
Resilience, winning while playing badly, coming from behind, last-minute winners – all hallmarks of Leicester’s steeliness and all qualities that inherited wisdom tells us are the making of title contenders.
Yes, the established elite have all strengthened considerably over the summer, but their array of new managers still need to settle in before moulding their new acquisitions into a cohesive unit.
Having long since cracked that conundrum, Claudio Ranieri has a head start on all the rest.
Last summer did not interrupt Leicester’s momentum. And neither will this.
Yes, the idea of them retaining the title might be fanciful. Only seven teams have ever managed that feat, and none since 2009.
Another challenge for European football, though, is well within their capabilities, and would prove that they are not about to obediently disappear into obscurity.
Many – including, incidentally, my rival in this debate – smugly sat back and waited for the wheels to fall off last season.
They were left looking foolish then, and they will be again unless they learn to accept the simple common sense staring them in the face.
The argument against | Tom Bowles
In the interest of full disclosure, I should share that I predicted Manchester City to win the title “by about eight points” the day before Leicester City embarrassed them at the Etihad in February.
I was wrong. Spectacularly so.
But it is not unreasonable or cynical to say the Foxes’ triumph was a beautiful anomaly.
Last season Claudio Ranieri’s side suffered no injuries.
That might happen again, but it is unlikely given they have a Champions League campaign to navigate.
The 2015/16 Premier League was also the worst ever in terms of standard. The only side apart from Leicester to enjoy a progressive season was Tottenham.
This time around, though, there will be proper competition.
Pep Guardiola will jolt City’s disengaged stars into consistent excellence, while Manchester United now have the division’s best squad.
Spurs under Mauricio Pochettino are clearly on the up, with Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton also likelier than Leicester to improve.
That is not big-club bias or patronising. It is merely an honest assessment of a group of players who, like Arsenal’s Invincibles or Sir Alex Ferguson’s final title-winning side, have probably peaked.
Riyad Mahrez is one of the English top-flight’s most gifted footballers, but will Jamie Vardy score in 11 successive games again? No.
The Community Shield, meanwhile, alluded to possible problems in a defence which last season kept 15 clean sheets.
Wes Morgan was culpable for both goals conceded against Manchester United.
Some might dismiss that as one bad game. Those who watched the 32-year-old play for Nottingham Forest, however, would probably say the player was simply reverting to his usual standard.
That sounds harsher than is intended. It is unglamorous players like Morgan who have made Leicester are a very good side.
The club have made some good signings this summer, too.
Ahmed Musa has come in from the Russian Premier League and, on first impressions, looks closer to Willian than Oumar Niasse.
And then there’s Nampalys Mendy, who was accomplished on his debut. But is he going to be the outstanding combative midfielder in the league like N’Golo Kante was?
Because that is the standard he has to meet.
And even if every player in possession of a scarcely believable winners’ medal maintains last season’s standards, it does not account for the inevitable improvement of the teams around them.
Are Leicester going to get relegated? Obviously not.
It is entirely plausible, though, that they will finish mid-table and replace Chelsea for having the worst ever title defence in the process.
That would not be a bad season, all things considered.
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