There has been much love for this season’s surprise packages Leicester City, who are leading the Premier League as we approach the halfway mark.
It has happened before. The Foxes were top back in October 2000, until Peter Taylor’s side were beaten 3-0 at home by eventual champions Manchester United.
As Duncan Alexander of Opta points out, there are some other unusual similarities to 2000-01 – namely Chelsea being 14th after 15 games and, perhaps less surprisingly, Wycombe beating Millwall in the second round of the FA Cup.
2000-01: Leicester surprise PL leaders in the autumn, Chelsea 14th after 15 games, Wycombe beat Millwall in FA Cup R2 #redux #sinister #fear
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) December 7, 2015
How did 2000-01 end up for our protagonists? Europa League enthusiast Jose Mourinho will be delighted to hear Chelsea ended up qualifying for the UEFA Cup with a sixth-place finish.
Leicester finished 13th after a late season collapse, which was kicked off by an FA Cup quarter-final defeat to… Wycombe Wanderers.
No doubt Claudio Ranieri’s men will be hoping to avoid Wycombe in Monday night’s FA Cup draw.
