When Claudio Ranieri was brought into Leicester City this summer, he set a goal for the club: Get 40 points and stay up in the Premier League.
A third of the way through the season, Ranieri has far exceeded expectations, sitting top of the table with 28 points through 13 matches.
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Originally thought of as a favorite for relegation, the perception of Leicester has changed very quickly, as both Arsene Wenger and Louis van Gaal said you could not rule them out as title contenders.
Responding to Wenger’s comments, Ranieri played down the Foxes’ title chances, saying their goal is still to get 40 points and stay above the drop.
Thank you to Arsene but he’s a joker. He knows the truth very well. The league is very strange and open but our goal is 40 points.
Our goal at the moment is this but let me see the next two months and then maybe I change the goal.
Like everybody else I am also curious in these days to watch my team, and to see how we respond in these big matches.
At this point last season, Leicester sat bottom of the table with a record of 2-4-7 and ten points. Today, Leicester is top of the table with a record of 8-4-1 and 28 points. Under Nigel Pearson, the Foxes won just 11 games all of last season, with seven of those coming from the final nine matches in a legendary run to stave off relegation.
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With a tough run of matches coming up against the likes of Manchester United, Everton, Liverpool and Manchester City, Ranieri is trying to keep his side in check, knowing you can never take anything for granted in the Premier League. However, if Leicester was to pull out a win over United on Saturday, Foxes’ fans will certainly have much higher hopes than 40 points.
