Premier League 19/20: Are Leicester City serious title contenders?

The journey so far

Maguire was signed by Manchester United in the Summer Transfer window

Leicester City's pre-season transfer activity largely revolved around Harry Maguire's big-money move to Manchester United, which only went through very close to deadline day. But although many argued that it was a mistake to let go of Maguire, in hindsight, it was Leicester City who were gaining from this transfer. Agreed that Maguire is a good defender, but he isn't of the same level as Virgil van Dijk or Sergio Ramos. Leicester played hard-to-get, and United's desperation meant that they shelled out heaps of money for Maguire.

While this was making headlines all around the world, Brendan Rodgers quietly went about his job of building a team that could pose a threat in the league. In came Ayoze Perez, Youri Tielemans and Dennis Praet, who would go on to become integral members of the side. Harvey Barnes, arguably one of the best loanees in the Championship, was recalled. In Jamie Vardy, Wes Morgan and Kasper Schmeichel, Rodgers had club leaders and veterans, who were a part of the title-winning 2015/16 season.

Wilfried Ndidi, Ricardo Pereira, James Maddison and Ben Chilwell had some of the best stats in the league the previous season and gave his team a more solid outlook. So Rodgers had most ingredients needed to build a good team. But he still had a gaping hole in defence after Maguire's departure.

The initial games were characterized largely by defensive play as he played Hamza Choudhary alongside Ndidi to make up for the defensive weak-link. This led to Leicester compromising on attack and started the league with two draws, against Wolves at home and away to Chelsea.

A moment of magic from Harvey Barnes helped the Foxes past Sheffield United for their first win of the season. This sparked about a renaissance of sorts; Harvey Barnes was too good to be benched. But this meant that Chowdhury wouldn't start, leading to a problem Rodgers was all too familiar with: compromising on defence. It had been his undoing at previous stints with Reading and Swansea.

Harvey Barnes lit up the Championship with West Brom last season

In such circumstances, it was defender Çağlar Söyüncü who stepped up his game. Looking back right now, Söyüncü has been a revelation this season. He was guilty of committing silly errors at the start of the season but has since settled in well alongside Jonny Evans at the back. The Turkish centre-back has more than replaced Harry Maguire; he is also popular among the Leicester faithful and chants in his name are often heard at home games.

Leicester City scraped past Newcastle in the Carabao Cup and followed that up with a top-notch performance to beat Bournemouth 3-1. A defeat to Manchester United away meant that Maguire could temporarily take home bragging rights, but looking at the table now, even he would have wished that he never left!

Caglar Soyuncu has emerged as a Leicester 'cult-hero'

What followed was truly special. A turning point in the Foxes' season was their come-back-from-behind win against Tottenham on the 21st of September. From there on, it has pretty much been smooth sailing. Barring the game against Liverpool, where VAR deprived them of a well-deserved draw, Rodgers' side have won all their games and that too in emphatic style. Post the Tottenham game, Leicester have netted a staggering 30 goals and conceded only thrice in nine games. Jamie Vardy is also currently the Premier League top-scorer with 12 goals.