Leicester City Believe They Have Quality to Challenge Liverpool for Title

It was meant to be Liverpool chasing Manchester City this season, the Reds trying to end a now three decade title drought and upset the league’s richest side. Instead, at least as it stands as of mid-November, it’s Liverpool clear top of the league.

It’s also not Manchester City who are up there with them. Instead, it’s Leicester City who are closest, the Foxes off to a surprising start under Brendan Rodgers and sitting on 26 points after 12 games—eight behind Liverpool but one better than City.

“We have the quality to beat any team,” Demarai Gray told The Mirror when asked if, now that Leicester are in second, he could see them pushing on and even challenging Liverpool for the lead league—and the 2019-20 Premier League title.

“It’s just about mentality really and I think you can see our spirit. We’re a tough team to face whether we go home or away. I think everyone will fear us now. We just want to stamp that down and give teams that impression it’s never going to be easy.”

It would certainly seem a long shot for Leicester to catch Liverpool, but few would have predicted the table as it currently stands at the start of the season—and not just because Liverpool are the ones sitting eight points clear at the top of it.

From Leicester in second to Chelsea in third to City in fourth, nothing about the top four is quite as expected. And neither is Sheffield United pushed ahead of Arsenal and Manchester United in fifth or Tottenham sat all the way back in 14th.

Whether it’s City’s riches and experience helping them bounce back or Leicester continuing their current run of form, though, one thing is clear: Liverpool will need to stay sharp and keep winning in order to capture their first title since 1990.

“Everyone can see we’re playing proper football,” Gray added. “The way we’ve been playing over the past few weeks and the momentum that we’ve got, I’m happy that we’ve carried it through.”