Premier League season preview: Leicester

Leicester won the most unlikely Premier League title in history last season. With increased expectations and more games, how will they do in 2016-17?

INS: Luis Hernandez (free transfer, Sporting Gijon), Nampalys Mendy (£10.0 million, Nice), Ahmed Musa (£15.0 million, CSKA Moscow), Ron-Robert Zieler (£2.6 million, Hannover 96)

OUTS: Jacob Blyth (free, Motherwell), Joseph Dodoo (£200,000, Rangers), N’Golo Kante (£30 million, Chelsea), Paul Konchesky (free, Gillingham), Jonny Maddison (free, Yeovil Town), Mark Schwarzer (unassigned), Ryan Watson (free, Barnet)

THE STORY: How does a team improve upon a miracle? Last season, Leicester weren’t merely the little engine that could; the Foxes were an unexpected behemoth, a swashbuckling Dyson vacuum come to suck up every necessary point, and nothing less. Beginning the season a 5,000-1 underdog, Leicester did not look like a side capable of seizing the throne from the Premier League’s mainstays, even after they only lost once through the first 17 weeks of the season. A favorable first half run during which the Foxes won eight of 10 matches, including a win at home against Chelsea and another away at Everton, put them in a favorable position to take advantage of the larger clubs’ busy schedules and injury concerns. In a historically quirky Premier League season, Leicester were able to capitalize, and from mid-January onward, the Foxes led the league. When Chelsea salvaged a 2-2 draw against then second place Tottenham in early May, the title was sealed. Leicester, a club only two years removed from life in the Championship, and one year removed from life in the Premier League relegation zone, had achieved the impossible. Pigs flew.

For their trouble, Leicester will now be saddled with the baggage that proved too heavy for so many of the top clubs last season. Entry into European competition means a more demanding travel schedule, and the increase in matches will increase the likelihood of injury. It is unlikely Leicester will be able trot out the same lineup week after week, as they did last season. According to The Telegraph, the Foxes used only 27 different starting lineups last term, second-fewest in history among Premier League champions, so manager Claudio Ranieri is going to have to get creative at times. Losing midfielder N’Golo Kante to Chelsea — possibly along with second-leading scorer Riyad Mahrez, who has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal — will put this team under a level of pressure it has never experienced. Last season, with nothing to prove, the Foxes seemed truly able to enjoy themselves. This season, some regression may be inevitable.

Fortunately, many of the key cogs from the title-winning season return, with Jamie Vardy, Wes Morgan, Christian Fuchs and Kasper Schmeichel headlining. The champions converted more of their shots on target than any other team in England last season, at 61 percent. Surely some of that calculated efficiency will remain. Champions League play will provide Leicester with an influx of money and its players with invaluable experience. Whether they will be able to endure the hectic schedule while maintaining the consistency they showed last season remains to be seen. Given the unlikelihood of every domino falling Leicester’s way a second year in a row, the idea of a repeat seems optimistic at best. Their bait-and-counterattack playing style caught the rest of the league by surprise last season, but opponents will be more wary this time around. Then again, Ranieri and company have a knack for capitalizing on opportunities. This is a team that already split the atom; if they do so again, it would destroy everything we thought we knew about English soccer.

KEY PLAYER: Though he finished three goals behind Tottenham’s Harry Kane for the Premier League Golden Boot last season, Jamie Vardy will be Leicester’s linchpin in 2016-17. His Charmin-soft first touch and assassin’s eye for goal will largely determine how Leicester follow up their historic title. With the departures of Kante and possibly Mahrez, the spotlight shines even brighter on Vardy, who enjoyed a solid showing at Euro 2016 despite the larger shortcomings of the English national team. He will turn 30 in January, and Vardy’s style does tend to rely on his quickness and physicality — qualities that will wane sooner or later. Opposition defenders will attempt to disrupt Vardy, but his prowess in the air and ability to finish with both feet will continue to give him good opportunities on goal.

MANAGER: Through the first nine games of last season, Leicester did not keep a clean sheet. Ranieri promised the team a pizza party if they managed to hold an opponent goalless. When the Foxes finally did so, against Crystal Palace, the somewhat enigmatic Ranieri held up his end of the deal. “The Tinkerman” is a player’s manager. So far he has shown the perfect temperament for this job, though ultimately his team’s success on the field will determine how his extracurricular antics are received. Until the very end last season, Ranieri insisted Leicester’s main focus was not the title, but merely a top four finish. This after vastly surpassing his preseason target of 40 points, the generally-accepted threshold for avoiding relegation. Ranieri has already said a repeat is not possible, but that won’t stop him and his players from dreaming in private.

BEST CASE: Mahrez stays, the midfield moves on quickly from the loss of Kante, the additional European competition isn’t as strenuous as expected, and Leicester follow up their title-winning campaign with a top four finish.

WORST CASE: There isn’t enough ibuprofen in the world for the title hangover, the midfield falls apart in Kante’s absence, the additional games cause injury and fitness problems, and Leicester limp to a bottom half finish.