Stats: Leicester City are top of the table, if adjusted for points per wage value
Leicester City have undoubtedly been the biggest surprise of the English Premier League this season. They have amazed everyone by staying on top of the table, or in the vicinity of it for longer than anyone would have ever thought, with the limited amount of resources that they have.
Leicester earned promotion to the English top flight in the 2014-15 season after they won the Football League Championship the previous season under the guidance of Nigel Pearson. The Englishman then went on to help the team to a 14th placed finish and gained the chance to play one more season in the Premier League. However, Pearson was sacked by the board and an experienced manager in Claudio Ranieri was brought in.
Few would have put their money on Leicester before the start of the season, but under the guidance of the Italian and riding on some swashbuckling performances from Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy, the club earned the right to stay at the top of the table for quite some time. While Vardy is currently the second highest goal scorer of the league with 15 goals, Mahrez is a couple of places behind him with 13.
A draw against Manchester City on Tuesday night meant that they will finish the year in second place, behind Arsenal, who have the same number of points as the Foxes but are ahead only on goal difference.
Leicester are good value for money
When Leicester and Manchester City walked out on the King Power Stadium pitch on Tuesday, there was a huge difference in the total amount of money invested in building both the squads. There was a massive £270m difference between the cost to assemble the respective teams. While, the home team cost just £21m to put together, the Sky Blues squad cost a massive £292.9m to assemble. Notably, the match ended in a 0-0 draw and Leicester are still ahead of their counterparts on the points table.
Though Leicester fell down to the second position after the draw, they still are still on top in value per point this term. The table takes into account the total amount of wages the squad earns and is divided by the number of points they have amassed after the end of the 19th game week.
The Foxes are closely followed by newly promoted Watford, who themselves have outrun expectations and lie 8th in the table, having just one point less than the 20-times English champions Manchester United. Crystal Palace and Bournemouth complete the top four of the aforementioned table.
The teams occupying the bottom-most half of the table are Manchester United, Aston Villa and the defending champions Chelsea. The three of them occupy the 18th, 19th and 20th position respectively.