As Liverpool took three points against Brighton and Manchester City drew Newcastle, Liverpool took the Premier League lead by double digits for the first time this season. While some are just looking at the Liverpool-Man City battle for the title, Leicester City is rearing their heads looking for a challenge. Yes, the Leicester City who defied the 5,000/1 odds to win the Premier League three years ago is back and arguably better than ever.
Despite this great Leicester team, Liverpool still has a healthy lead and given their outrageously impressive form (14 wins, 1 draw, 0 losses) any dropped points by Leicester now will make it that much tougher later in the season.
Things looked bad for Leicester early against Everton. An early Richarlison goal put them behind and a penalty overturned by VAR kept them behind 1-0 at halftime. Then Jamie Vardy did Jamie Vardy things and got the equalizer but a draw isn’t enough for this title race. Leicester would need to win and they did so in the most dramatic way.
IHEANACHO WINS IT FOR LEICESTER 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Mtw0wKpEo1
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) December 1, 2019
The moment @LCFC learned their goal was onside! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/lkkIOBYLQJ
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) December 1, 2019
In the 94th minute, Ricardo Pereira placed a perfect throughball to Kelechi Iheanacho and Iheanacho buried the winner in the final seconds to get the three points.
This now has Leicester in second, just eight points behind Liverpool. That might still sound insurmountable but Liverpool is going to have an even busier December than usual with the Club World Cup and they play Leicester on Boxing Day. If Leicester can keep pace and get a win on Boxing Day, it becomes a five point margin entering 2020 and this suddenly becomes a lot closer than we think.
The preseason storyline was thought to be Manchester City vs. Liverpool for the Premier League. The storyline might be something different and it might be a journey to see if Brendan Rodgers can deny his old team the trophy they have been seeking for years.
About Phillip Bupp
Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.
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