Leicester City a Title Challenger Regardless of Saturday Result

Manchester City face surprise package Leicester City in Saturday's early kickoff. The Foxes shockingly sit atop the Premier League table with 14 rounds remaining in the season. All season long Claudio Ranieri's men have been doubted but seemingly have answered every question asked of them.

We've heard it all season long:

"Leicester City are going to fall away and be a midtable team."

"The next set of fixtures will expose them"

"  Leicester are not deep enough to compete for a Champions League spot"

"They won't survive when Jamie Vardy stops scoring or   N'Golo Kante will wear down "

and so on and so forth...

But the reality is that the Foxes have been more consistent this season than any other Premier League side and 24 fixtures in a watered-down season are NOT random data points but a sure sign that the Foxes have the quality to stick around the top four. Leicester has come through time difficult stretches of matches and while they've been fortunate to remain generally healthy, they have had stretches of games with key players like Danny Drinkwater unavailable.

Irrespective of what happens on Saturday at The Etihad and the following weekend at the Emirates, my expectation is that Leicester hangs around the top four for the rest of the season. Currently they have the league's best winger in Riyad Mahrez, one of the league's two-best strikers in Jamie Vardy and easily the best holding midfielder in N'Golo Kante.

Having three of the most potent players in the league at their positions in a season where the league is watered down almost guarantees the Foxes will stay in the mix for a top four spot, perhaps even better. So if and when the Blues win on Saturday, don't be part of the crowd that says:

"Leicester is finished the wheels are coming off."

They've proven even when being knocked down before that they'll get back up and compete.