We have reached that famous final furlong of the Premier League season that Sir Alex Ferguson liked to call ‘squeaky bum time’.
The legendary Manchester United manager thrived in times like this as the title race reached its high-pressure denouement.
It sorts the men out from the boys, the weak from the strong and the true champions from the chaff.
But these are crazy times. Leicester City are top of the league – five points clear of Spurs and eight ahead of Arsenal – after a sensational season.
Despite them being the bookies’ favourite to claim the title, people are still convinced this odds-defying run will come to an end. With nine games to go Leicester fans with big money riding on it are cashing in their bets.
But there might just be cause to hold onto those betting slips until the death if history and past form are anything to go by.
ESPN have looked at the history books to see how Claudio Ranieri’s men compare to some of the past champions at this crucial stage in the season.
It makes for interesting reading as they are in exactly the same position as one of the greatest ever Premier League-winning sides.
While the stats show that out of 25 title winners, Leicester sit in 17th in terms of their points tally at this point in the season in March.
Leicester are on 60 points currently – which is more than Manchester United in ’95-’96 and Arsenal in ’97-’98.
But rather ominously for their fellow title challengers, the Foxes currently boast exactly the same record as Fergie’s treble-winning side of ’98-’99 (both P29, W17, D9, L3).
ESPN also look at Leicester chances from their league position right now – showing that out of 21 title races since 1995-96, they have the 10th best lead over second place (five points) and over third place (eight points).
According to ESPN you have to go back to 1980 with Aston Villa (seventh place the previous season) to find any side that has gone from outside the top six to finish top.
So in short, it will be truly historic if they can clinch the Premier League title.
