{"id":32669,"date":"2020-10-01T12:43:20","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T12:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/?p=32669"},"modified":"2020-10-01T12:45:55","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T12:45:55","slug":"leicester-city-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/leicester-city-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Leicester City start proving that they’re here to stay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nothing quite sums up the football hype train like the clamour to back Leicester City last season. Brendan Rodgers, having shaken off a bitter end to life at Liverpool and redeemed his reputation as one of Europe\u2019s top coaches, had made some very interesting signings and the Foxes were expected to crash the \u2018big six\u2019 party.<\/p>\n

The buzz was back at the King Power Stadium, well and truly. Having built themselves a reputation as the ultimate underdogs, off which they lifted the Premier League title<\/a> in 2016, they were finally a team people thought could challenge on the front foot. Rodgers and his side did not disappoint, finishing fifth and qualifying for the Europa League<\/a>. However, having been third by quite a distance for most of the season, a real drop off in 2020, accentuated by a particularly bad spell after project restart<\/a> in June, saw their bubble -burst spectacularly. Missing out on Champions League<\/a> football in that fashion was devastating for the supporters, even if a little perspective eased the overall perception of their plight.<\/p>\n

Injuries, particularly to James Maddison and Ricardo Pereira, were seen as the main reason behind the sudden loss of form. Jamie Vardy<\/a>, who had been scoring goals for fun in the early weeks and months and still ended up as the league\u2019s Golden Boot winner, suddenly became very inconsistent in front of goal.<\/p>\n

The short turnaround before the new campaign kicked off, and the news that spending would be minimal at the club due to the effects of the worldwide pandemic, meant Leicester City<\/a> were not expected to repeat their feat. Instead of placing them in a European<\/a> spot, a number of pundits were expecting them to challenge in the top half. They certainly didn\u2019t feel like flavour of the month anymore.<\/p>\n

Yet, minus a defeat in the Carabao Cup to Arsenal<\/a>, it has been a perfect start. Leicester<\/a> are three wins from three in the league and looking as threatening going forward as they did a year ago. Sunday\u2019s 5-2 win at Manchester City<\/a> was a reminder to everyone exactly what they were about. That performance, and this current run of form, showed why they struggled last<\/a> season. Right now at least, those problems are behind them.<\/p>\n

Pereira is without doubt one of the Premier League\u2019s<\/a> best full-backs and he has been sorely missed. His absence continues but, in his place, is Leicester\u2019s only permanent addition this season<\/a>. Timothy Castagne joined from Atalanta and the Belgian has offered another presence in attack down the right flank, while Maddison\u2019s return has been timely.<\/p>\n

He scored a superb goal at the Etihad Stadium and punished the space left by the hosts at every turn. Vardy became the first player ever to score two hat-tricks against a Pep Guardiola<\/a> side. Leicester<\/a> City are looking as strong as they did last season precisely because they are once again able to.<\/p>\n

It was a bitter blow to Manchester City\u2019s hopes of keeping an early pace with Liverpool<\/a> but Guardiola couldn\u2019t deal with Rodgers\u2019 change of approach. The Northern Irishman maintained all the attacking intent, committing numbers going forward when he could without losing that steel and togetherness at the back and gifting away possession.<\/p>\n

The hosts had no answer and, rather than publicly admitting that they need to work on beating teams who sit deep more regularly as they did with minimal fuss a couple of years ago, they are complaining. Guardiola and Spanish midfielder Rodri<\/a> accused Leicester of not wanting to play football, which was rather concerning because it suggested that they believed they hadn\u2019t come up short.<\/p>\n

No team should worry about playing defensively, especially against a team like that who have proven time<\/a> and time again that they can ruthlessly rip through the pitch and punish anybody. Guardiola should respect that, anticipate it and work out a way around it. There is no doubting his ability to do that but his comments came off as little more than sour grapes at the weekend<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Leicester overachieved at the start of last season<\/a>, which made their form throughout the winter, spring and early summer all the more headline-grabbing. But they are likely to be a force again this term, especially if they can keep Vardy and Maddison fit<\/a> throughout.<\/p>\n

Perception counts for a lot in football; it dictates the sort of pressure a club will play under. Leicester had the burden of expectation, and dealt with that well overall. But now they are looking freer and fresher without the spotlight; it really is paying off well.<\/p>\n

With every season, it gets more competitive at the top end of the Premier League<\/a>. The usual suspects spend big, something Leicester<\/a> City haven\u2019t done, and that, in truth, is why pundits have cooled on their predictions. Nothing quite generates excitement like a busy transfer window<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But to say Rodgers\u2019 men won\u2019t be in the conversation does them a disservice. This season will be about another push for Europe<\/a> and, if anyone doubts them, they need only look at Sunday\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

You could earn up to \u00a3100 (or currency equivalent) in bonus funds by joining Colossus with our New Player<\/a> Bonus. Click here to join the action.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nothing quite sums up the football hype train like the clamour to back Leicester City last season. Brendan Rodgers, having shaken off a bitter end to life at Liverpool and redeemed his reputation as one of Europe\u2019s top coaches, had made some very interesting signings and the Foxes were expected to crash the \u2018big six\u2019 party.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[643],"tags":[272,76],"class_list":["post-32669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sport","tag-featurehome","tag-premier-league"],"yoast_head":"\nLeicester City start proving that they're here to stay - Colossus Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Leicester City have started the season in tremendous form, proving they they are no one season wonder at the top of the Premier League.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/leicester-city-start\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Leicester City start proving that they're here to stay\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Leicester City have started the season in tremendous form, proving they they are no one season wonder at the top of the Premier League.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/leicester-city-start\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colossus Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SportsBigger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-01T12:43:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-01T12:45:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/GettyImages-1164597335-scaled-e1601556348329.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"864\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Harry De Cosemo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/harrydecosemo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ColossusBets\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Harry De Cosemo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/leicester-city-start\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/leicester-city-start\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Harry De Cosemo\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/94dd728157baaf683f9e5ca63e63fecb\"},\"headline\":\"Leicester City start proving that they’re here to stay\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-01T12:43:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-01T12:45:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/leicester-city-start\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":887,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"FeatureHome\",\"Premier League\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2020\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/leicester-city-start\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/leicester-city-start\\\/\",\"name\":\"Leicester City start proving that they're here to stay - Colossus Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-01T12:43:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-01T12:45:55+00:00\",\"description\":\"Leicester City have started the season in tremendous form, proving they they are no one season wonder at the top of the Premier League.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/leicester-city-start\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/leicester-city-start\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/leicester-city-start\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Leicester City start proving that they’re here to stay\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Colossus Blog\",\"description\":\"Colossus Blog\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Colossus Bets\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Colossus Bets\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/SportsBigger\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ColossusBets\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/colossusbets_\\\/?hl=en\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/colossus-bets\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/ColossusBets\\\/featured\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/94dd728157baaf683f9e5ca63e63fecb\",\"name\":\"Harry De Cosemo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42a09f3a53ee707e4c54b6ae3a3e3c04fb3bb1d522819046699fde94983dc9ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42a09f3a53ee707e4c54b6ae3a3e3c04fb3bb1d522819046699fde94983dc9ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42a09f3a53ee707e4c54b6ae3a3e3c04fb3bb1d522819046699fde94983dc9ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Harry De Cosemo\"},\"description\":\"A freelance European football journalist who has worked for a variety of outlets including the Press Association, MARCA in English, FourFourTwo and SportsKeeda\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/https:\\\/\\\/twitter.com\\\/harrydecosemo\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/harrydecosemo\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Leicester City start proving that they're here to stay - Colossus Blog","description":"Leicester City have started the season in tremendous form, proving they they are no one season wonder at the top of the Premier League.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/leicester-city-start\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Leicester City start proving that they're here to stay","og_description":"Leicester City have started the season in tremendous form, proving they they are no one season wonder at the top of the Premier League.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/leicester-city-start\/","og_site_name":"Colossus Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SportsBigger\/","article_published_time":"2020-10-01T12:43:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-01T12:45:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":864,"url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/GettyImages-1164597335-scaled-e1601556348329.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Harry De Cosemo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/harrydecosemo","twitter_site":"@ColossusBets","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Harry De Cosemo","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/leicester-city-start\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/leicester-city-start\/"},"author":{"name":"Harry De Cosemo","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/94dd728157baaf683f9e5ca63e63fecb"},"headline":"Leicester City start proving that they’re here to stay","datePublished":"2020-10-01T12:43:20+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-01T12:45:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/leicester-city-start\/"},"wordCount":887,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["FeatureHome","Premier League"],"articleSection":["Sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2020","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/leicester-city-start\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/leicester-city-start\/","name":"Leicester City start proving that they're here to stay - Colossus Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-10-01T12:43:20+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-01T12:45:55+00:00","description":"Leicester City have started the season in tremendous form, proving they they are no one season wonder at the top of the Premier League.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/leicester-city-start\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/leicester-city-start\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/leicester-city-start\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Leicester City start proving that they’re here to stay"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/","name":"Colossus Blog","description":"Colossus Blog","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Colossus Bets","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"Colossus Bets"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SportsBigger\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ColossusBets","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/colossusbets_\/?hl=en","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/colossus-bets\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/ColossusBets\/featured"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/94dd728157baaf683f9e5ca63e63fecb","name":"Harry De Cosemo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a09f3a53ee707e4c54b6ae3a3e3c04fb3bb1d522819046699fde94983dc9ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a09f3a53ee707e4c54b6ae3a3e3c04fb3bb1d522819046699fde94983dc9ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a09f3a53ee707e4c54b6ae3a3e3c04fb3bb1d522819046699fde94983dc9ba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Harry De Cosemo"},"description":"A freelance European football journalist who has worked for a variety of outlets including the Press Association, MARCA in English, FourFourTwo and SportsKeeda","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/harrydecosemo"],"url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/author\/harrydecosemo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32669"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45993,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32669\/revisions\/45993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}