Premier League Viewpoint: Can the Foxes Be Caught? Will Spurs Slip Up at Anfield?

By Alex Dunn, Featured Columnist 

Apr 1, 2016

After an international break about as welcome as a selfie with a suspected hijacker, the Premier League returns at the weekend in all its bountiful glory with a round of fixtures more appetizing than a fillet steak on a bed of fillet steaks.

International weeks are all about smiling dutifully and nodding sagely when someone in the pub is eulogising a bit too frenziedly over the merits of Iceland’s back four—often despite being neither Icelandic nor liking football.

Essentially, it’s the sporting equivalent of being presented with photographs of a friend’s baby. Easy enough to coo in all the right places while surreptitiously glancing at your watch and wondering when the night will get going.

In four days, England went from UEFA European Championship winners elect to probably just making up the numbers in France. By midday on Wednesday, all Serge Gainsbourg records had been returned to their dusty sleeves until the summer. A nation stopped dreaming, as thoughts turned to domestic duties and the Premier League.

Front-runners Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur both have just seven matches to play. Between now and May 15, they each have to get through another 630 minutes of football, or 10-and-a-half hours if you’d prefer. To put that into context, what’s left constitutes about the same amount of time as a flight from London to San Francisco. The Premier League season is just one long journey away, three films back-to-back, from its conclusion.

By the time Leicester host Southampton on Sunday, they may hold just a two-point advantage over Spurs, who play a day earlier at Liverpool in what looks to be the weekend’s standout fixture.

Mark Twain once said: "All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure."

Jamie Vardy’s two fine goals in as many matches for England, against Germany and the Netherlands respectively, should take care of the latter.

In a recent interview with the Guardian, when quizzed on the pressures of the title race, Vardy countered: "People keep asking me if I’m watching our rivals’ games in the Premier League but I’m usually on my PlayStation.

"If I had been watching, it would have been on an illegal stream, so I don’t even know why they are asking me."

Guess that’s the former put to bed too.

There were few bigger winners over the international interlude than Leicester City. Vardy reported for England duty on the back of going five games without a goal. He returned to the Midlands with Roy Hodgson whispering sweet nothings into his ear. A place in England’s 23 for France that was written in pencil has been gone over in pen.

The last of his 21 goals for the season came in defeat at Arsenal back on Valentine’s Day, and he's registered just four in his last 15 league games. In truth, there’s not been too much wrong with his overall play in this relative lean period. Vardy is that rare breed of striker who genuinely would take collective glory over personal accolades. Most frontmen are so selfish they owe themselves a fiver.

Vardy’s post-match interview after England’s defeat to the Netherlands, despite his goal, was so miserably abrupt his mum banned him from his PlayStation for a whole week. He’s clearly not a fan of losing.

Still, if Vardy can get back on the goal trail after recent jittery performances have seen Leicester win their last three matches 1-0 (it’s come to this, picking at Claudio Ranieri’s side for not winning by enoughgoals), the title race could effectively be over by the time a tricky final run-in against Manchester United (a), Everton (h) and Chelsea (a) gets underway.

It wasn’t just Vardy of the Leicester contingent who proved his international chops over the past fortnight. Danny Drinkwater replicated the pugnacious promptings that earned him his call-up to ensure he left Wembley with a bottle of champagne courtesy of a man-of-the-match display against the Netherlands.

His partner in crime, N’Golo Kante, marked his debut for France with a goal in a 4-2 win over Russia. What this injection of confidence will do for Leicester, when legs are feeling more tired than they have ever felt before, should not be underestimated.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s backing, in a wide-ranging interview with Sky Sports, won’t have gone unheard either. Well, Vardy might not have heard, but the rest of Leicester will have sat up and taken notice of the Scot's words:

Leicester have got the edge, they’ve got that togetherness.

The consistency has been there all season. Leicester have got the bit between their teeth, they’ve been the best team without question throughout the season and they deserve to win it.

I don't see any nerves and that's down to the manager, he's brought a calming influence. It's fantastic, they are a breath of fresh air and it's great for the game.

Southampton make the trip to the league leaders just four points shy of Manchester City in fourth. What looked at one point to be turning into a difficult second season for Ronald Koeman at St Mary’s has in fact only seen the Dutchman’s stock rise.

Prior to the international hiatus, Southampton came from two goals down to beat Liverpool at St Mary’s.

The Saints are still something of a Jeykll and Hyde outfit; against Liverpool, they were both were in the same game. It will be Southampton’s robust win at Stoke City in their most recent away game that will cause Ranieri most consternation, though—certainly more than the rousing comeback it took to beat Jurgen Klopp’s men.