The Premier League is back this weekend.
But Arsenal don’t play until Monday night.
Right now, four days before that match, I can say this : Leicester are not Fulham.
Fulham were a respectable Premier League club from 2001 onwards when they were managed by Chris Coleman and Roy Hodgson and rose to 6th under Hodgson in 2009 and were 8th under Mark Hughes i n 2011 and 9th under Martin Jol in 2012 but in 2013/14 they were relegated under Jol /Felix Magath/Rene Meulensteen.
Leicester are very different.
They won the title with Claudio Ranieri in 2016 and had exceptional players like Kante, Mahrez and Jamie Vardy.
That fairytale was world news and I loved it when they kept going and kept winning when so many people doubted they would sustain their efforts.
Vardy is now 32 but still fast and fierce. After removing himself from Southgate’s England bench, he will be as fresh and fiery as ever.
The Foxes also have Denmark’s keeper Kasper Schmeichel, and England defenders in Harry Maguire and Ben Chilwell, plus the up-and-coming James Maddison, who was recently called up by Southgate.
Last season Maddison, 21, was at Norwich and in June Everton Southampton wanted him but Leicester signed him on a five-year contract and paid £22m for the privilege.
Maddison scored in victories over Huddersfield and Wolves and also scored against Bournemouth but Leicester lost that game 4-1.
Monday is a big game for this lad and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do against a fast-improving Arsenal side, having only seen highlights up till now.
Until Monday night Gooners must hope other results go their way.
West Ham v Spurs is on Saturday at 3pm.
Chelsea play Manchester United in a 12.30 kick-off on Saturday and I fancy Chelsea to win 2-1.
I reckon United and Liverpool lack rhythm and fluency right now, while Chelsea have a very slick midfield that almost makes up for the loss of Diego Costa, and Hazard combines very nicely with Willian, Marcus Alonso, Fabregas and everyone else.
What if I’m wrong? What if United win?
Well, if United are good enough to beat Chelsea they might take the title from Man City.
We know that Liverpool and United are on Pep’s radar but Chelsea may already be on his radar as well.
PS I’ve been ill for 2 weeks, hence many errors here, but I’m on different antibiotics now & hope to be back to normal next week.
Do you remember Dennis Bergkamp against Martin O’Neill’s Leicester?