One third of the season over, what are your hopes and expectations for the rest of it now?
I think the January transfer window still looms large and is going to shape how the rest of the season goes. In hindsight, I wonder how much of our early season struggles were just down to the sense of chaos around the club. The danger is that we get something similar, with speculation around Youri Tielemans and James Maddison having a destabilising effect.
Maybe we'll deal with it better this time, since we have a more settled defence and a bit more confidence about us. But Newcastle's blood money in a Champions League race, combined with our most valuable players being ripe to be picked off, worries me.
I guess my hope is that we've got through the worst of it and we can push on towards a top half finish, with a cup run to boot. But I don't think the storm clouds have completely parted yet.
James Knight
I don't think the expectation has changed too much. OK, sneaking into Europe is probably out of the question, but a strong mid-table finish should still be the minimum we're aiming for.
We're only five points off of the top half (albeit with Liverpool and Palace having a game in hand), and there'll be other clubs still to hit their rough patches. We just need to make sure that ours is completely behind us, as there could easily be a number of clubs sucked into trouble.
We seem to have picked up a bit of confidence in recent weeks, so must capitalise on that before the World Cup. If we can go into the break with 15 points, we should definitely be looking up rather than down.
Ryan Hubbard
Considering the distinct lack of consistency or quality among the majority of teams in the league, I'd hope we can actually show a bit of both to climb the table.
With pretty much destroying our league season by getting one point from from the first seven games, and the fact I continue to think of us as a serious underdog team (despite our successes), a cup run is always something that ignites some excitement.
Europe was a very welcome distraction last year, so hopefully some fun cup games can bring some positivity around the place to take into league form too.
I hope we don’t lose any key players in January, stay in the league comfortably and use the rest of the season to build momentum into next.
Becky Taylor
Given the start, I'd probably be content just to escape relegation, but it'd be nice to push up towards a mid-table finish. I think anything above that is probably beyond us this season.
The more important thing for me is that we've shown some fight in the past few weeks. The performances had become so limp whenever we came up against any kind of adversity that I didn't mind watching a battling defensive performance against Manchester City, even in defeat. More than anything I'd like to see that kind of grit continue, and there are few better games to show it than the next two – both away from home, and both against teams that should be at a similar level to us.
This feeling really goes back to last season and the pathetic mentality that saw us out-battled and out-manoeuvred in games we should have won comfortably. There were wasted opportunities to achieve more. I don't expect victory in the next two and I don't expect us to finish in the top half this season, but I always want to see a Leicester team play for the shirt and fight for the cause. That's my expectation now we've shown we're capable of it again.
David Bevan
As the final whistle blew after the Man City game, booing once again erupted around the King Power – a sound that had become all too familiar for Leicester. Yet, these howls of derision weren’t aimed at the players but at the referee, who was adjudged to have called a game short at a time when Leicester’s fans were willing their side to claim what would have been a deserved point against the league’s – if not Europe’s – best side.
Once these faded, they were replaced with a standing ovation. The fans recognising the effort and improvement that their team had demonstrated, both tactically and in performance.
The difference in the last few weeks has been marked. I mean, it needed to happen, but I can’t be alone in feeling relieved that we’ve finally demonstrated signs of recovery. Danny Ward has improved from his woeful start to the season, Maddison continues to excel, Tielemans is playing some excellent football and in Wout Faes, the fans have a new cult hero.
However, Leicester’s position is still oh-so-precarious. The league is as tight as ever, and two wins are enough to drag ourselves out of immediate danger – but that’s the same for all teams around us, too. Therefore, it’s absolutely critical that we perform in the final two games before the World Cup. Both Everton and West Ham sit just three points ahead of us, and have endured somewhat inconsistent starts to their season too. These games present a brilliant opportunity to improve our position at the detriment to those around us.
My hopes are that we take at least four points from these two games, head into the break in a more secure position, and use this momentum to get ourselves away from this scrap for good.
Jamie Thorpe
Although we're still in the bottom three, I fully expect us to finish between 8th and 12th this season. Hopefully we’ll have a good run in both domestic cups. With two away games to go before the break for the World Cup, we could still be in the relegation zone – but a win at Goodison Park could see us up to the dizzy heights of 12th!
I don't like the phrase, but there’s definitely too much quality in this squad to go down. I still think Bournemouth, Fulham, Brentford, Leeds, Southampton, Everton, Palace, Wolves and Aston Villa will all be below us come the end.
This season will be completely different to any other – it’ll be like starting all over again after the World Cup, so there’s still a long way to go and a lot of football to be played. Hopefully once we start climbing up the table and away from the relegation zone, we can put a bit of form together and get some confidence from progressing in the cup competitions.
Jordan Halford
At this moment, my hopes are simply to remain in the Premier League.
With Everton and West Ham away to come before the break, you'd have to say (based on our abysmal away form over the past 12 months) that it's likely we'll go into the World Cup bottom of the league. If that's the case, I really don't know how the owners will react.
Obviously praying for our upturn to continue, but it all feels like it's been built on sand – I'm fearful of the usual away performances in the next two. Can we win/draw if we go behind? Can we nick a tight game 1-0? Would one set-peice conceded lead to the dam being broken?There's a lot of questions around this team at present.
The next two games really are season-defining in my view. Let's hope we’re unbeaten so we can enjoy the World Cup.
Iain Wright
Mainly to keep building on the improvements that we’ve shown recently and start climbing the table. Recent victories have shown there are plenty of points out there to be won. Even in defeats, this is still the case – we’ve cost ourselves victories against Brentford, Southampton and Bournemouth. They were all games we should have won, and all games that showed that we’re better than what we’ve shown so far.
What’s clear to me is that a top-half finish is still possible. The table is very compact, with five points separating us in 18th from Liverpool in 9th. As a result, if we can start stringing some results together, it’s very possible to climb the table quickly. In addition, many teams are of similar ability, meaning it’s likely that points will be taken off each other throughout the year. We look likely to have less exposure to the World Cup than other teams, which again can help us as the season progresses.
We’ve shown enough to indicate that we’re a lot better than where we are currently, but a lack of application has meant we’ve failed to show it enough. The defensive improvements should make us harder to play against, ensuring that we can pick up more points as the season progresses. Our start has made it a lot harder for us, but we can still pull out a positive season – we just need to keep showing these improvements a lot more consistently.
Elliott Butlin
