LONDON: Five years after achieving the unthinkable, Leicester City are back atop the Premier League and making another improbable run at the title.

For big-spending Chelsea and their under-pressure manager, Frank Lampard, any ambitions of winning the league already appear to be dashed.

Leicester beat Chelsea 2-0 on Tuesday to jump above the two Manchester clubs, United and City, and reach the midway stage of their league campaign in first place.

Even if their latest time at the summit lasts just one night, Leicester are showing they mean business again. Just like in the 2015-16 season, when the team managed by Claudio Ranieri famously delivered one of the biggest underdog triumphs in sporting history to win the league at odds of 5,000-1.

Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers said it was still too early to talk about his team as title contenders.

“We’re at the top of the league because we work hard, were not there by fluke,” said James Maddison, who scored Leicester’s second goal. “We’ll do our business in the background, let them talk about Liverpool, Manchester United and Spurs, we’ll just keep doing what were doing.”

Wilfred Ndidi and Maddison scored in the first half as Leicester extended their unbeaten run in the league to six games, the last three all being wins.

Chelsea were carved open time and again at the King Power Stadium and fell to a fifth loss in their last eight games in the league, a run of results that leaves Lampard’s position precarious after the clubs spending spree of approaching $300 million ahead of this season.

“It intensified for me a while ago,” Lampard said. “Because the expectations at this club, whether they are right or wrong, are always high. It’s not my decision [about whether he’ll stay as manager]. That’s something that will always be there.”

Lampard’s side dropped to eighth place, nine points behind Leicester, who are a point ahead of United.

IN-FORM ANTONIO

As it stands, West Ham United are heading into the second half of its Premier League campaign with just one senior striker.

Fortunately for manager David Moyes, that striker is in-form Michail Antonio.

Antonio scored a match-winning goal for the second time in four days, his 66th-minute volley earning West Ham a 2-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion.

His winner against Burnley on Saturday came on his first league start since recovering from a hamstring problem, the latest fitness issue to affect an injury-prone player who was one of the league’s best players after lockdown last summer.

If Moyes can keep Antonio fit — and that’s always a big if — it isn’t too fanciful to see West Ham remaining in the vicinity of their current position of seventh.

West Ham sold their other senior striker, Sebastien Haller, to Ajax this month.

West Brom stayed in next-to-last place, five points from safety.

SOUTHAMPTON THROUGH

Southampton set up a fourth-round match at home to Arsenal in the FA Cup after beating third-tier Shrewsbury 2-0.

Goals by Dan N’Lundulu, one of the many fringe players who started for Southampton, and James Ward-Prowse guided the Saints to victory at their St Mary’s Stadium.

The third-round game was rearranged from the start of this month following a coronavirus outbreak in the Shrewsbury squad.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2021