Leicester City picked as the Premier League team of the season

Soccer Saturday’s Charlie Nicholas and Phil Thompson have picked Leicester City as the Premier League’s team of the season so far.

Leicester are placed fourth in the league, having won four games – including a 2-1 win victory over Tottenham Hotspur – and drawn two.

Such a strong start means that for the first time since the title-winning 2015/16 campaign, Leicester are being considered as one of the contenders for the UEFA Champions League spots.

The Foxes’ displays have impressed Nicholas so much that he chose them as his team of the season, not Liverpool, who have won all eight league games.

"“I think Leicester City have caught my attention the most. It is a weird one because they lost at Old Trafford and Anfield but could have easily won both,” he told Sporting Life. “It says a lot that you can walk away and say this from both of these grounds. It may be a strange choice in some people’s opinion, but they took on the big guns and should have got something out of it.“I think they are the real deal to challenge for the top four. I don’t care about the deficiencies of Tottenham and Manchester United – that is nothing to do with Leicester.“They are playing some great football with Brendan Rodgers, as everyone expected. They are challenging for the top four now and people are believing that they may be able to break the ‘big six’ trend.”"

Thompson also shares the same opinion and does believe that Leicester will disrupt the ‘Big Six’.

"“Liverpool is the easiest one to say with eight wins on the trot, but I have to say Leicester have been the highlight from the Premier League sides,” he said.“The players they have got are not too different from Claude Puel’s team, with Harry Maguire leaving too, yet they are playing some wonderful stuff.”It is a loss but I am not going to say it is a massive loss as Caglar Soyuncu has been terrific. Individuals have all upped their game, and Brendan Rodgers has implemented slightly differing tactics, so they have been the surprise package.”People were asking who was going to be the team that would disrupt the ‘big six’. The strides that Leicester have made have been incredible and I fancy them to do that.”"

For someone to overlook a team that has not dropped a single point nearly three-and-a-half months into the season, you have to have done something really big. What Leicester are doing, mirabile dictu, is big.

Having said that, this is still only the start. To finish in the top four, you have to maintain the same level over a long period of time.

There are going to be loads of challenges from now until the end of the season, and none big than the dreaded festive period – that really is the make-or-break time.

If Brendan Rodgers can be clever with his squad management and avoid exhausting his key players, then by the end of January, the East Midlands could be preparing for European nights already.

Long way to go but who says you cannot start dreaming in October?