With time running out on the 2015/2016 Premier League season, it looks like the league title will come down to a battle between Leicester City, a team that defied online soccer predictions all year, and Tottenham.
The two teams finished 14th and fifth respectively in the Premiership last season, but found a way to get to the top of the standings and stay there, leaving the traditional powers scrambling to earn a spot in Europe next season.
Chelsea came into the season as the defending champions but there chances of repeating as champions quickly fizzled and manager Jose Mourinho was fired halfway through the year.
Arsenal tried to keep up with both teams for most of the year, but the Gunners are currently 11 points behind Leicester City with little or no chance of catching up before the end of the season.
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Manchester City came into the city with high expectations but they fell behind quickly and never recovered. They still have a chance to win the Champions League, so the season hasn’t been a total disappointment.
Manchester United was supposed to build on last season’s success, but the team imploded and is currently sitting in sixth place.
If either Leicester City or Tottenham wins the Premier League title, it will be the first time in the last 11 years that Manchester United, Chelsea, or Manchester city didn’t win the title.
One of the reasons that both Leicester City has enjoyed success in the Premier League this season is the fact that the team didn’t have to play in Europe. Playing in Europe means the club would have to play extra games and the chances of players getting injured also increases.
Since Leicester City never had to worry about the distractions that come with playing in Europe, they were able to focus entirely on their domestic campaign.
With seven games left on the schedule, Leicester City needs 17 out of 21 total available points to secure the team’s first Premier League title. Getting the 17 points will not be easy since the team still has games against Manchester United, Chelsea, and West Ham left on the schedule.
Tottenham also has to face Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Stoke City before the season is over.
Opponents have started to adjust to Leicester City’s fast pace offense, but they are still having trouble stopping the team from scoring. James Vardy was the catalyst for the team offensively early in the season but his production has dipped in recent weeks, and he has fallen behind Tottenham’ s Harry Kane as the league’s top goalscorer.
Despite being unable to score at the same pace he did earlier, Vardy has adjusted his style and has been more of a distributor in recent games and has assists in their last couple of games.
While Leicester City continues to win games, it is clear that they aren’t playing as well as they did earlier in the season and they will need to play better down the stretch if they want to win the league title.
Tottenham has missed several opportunities to reduce the gap between the team and Leicester City. The Spurs lost games that they should have won against West Ham and Aston Villa, dropping six points in the process.
Even though both teams are separated by five points, expect the clubs to put up a fight to the finish that will keep fans entertained.
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