Football League World
·24 October 2023
This difference between Leicester City and Burnley from last season should scare the Championship: Opinion

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·24 October 2023
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It has been an outstanding start to life back in the Championship for Leicester City.
The Foxes recorded their seventh consecutive victory with a 3-1 win over Swansea City at the Swansea.com Stadium on Saturday, with goals from Jannik Vestergaard, Abdul Fatawu and Kelechi Iheanacho turning the game around after Matt Grimes had given the Swans the lead.
Enzo Maresca's side are the first team in Championship history to win their opening six away league games of a season, and they currently sit top of the table, five points clear of second-placed Ipswich Town and 11 points clear of third-placed Leeds United.
Leicester lost a number of key players this summer following their relegation from the Premier League, including the likes of James Maddison, Harvey Barnes and Youri Tielemans, but after some excellent recruitment, they have one of the strongest squads in the second tier.
The Foxes' remarkable start to the season has drawn comparisons with last season's champions Burnley, who won the title with an impressive 101 points, but Maresca's men could be set to beat that total.
Burnley dominated the Championship last season, sitting top of the table for much of the campaign, but it was a turbulent start for Vincent Kompany's side.
After 12 games, the Clarets sat fifth in the table with 19 points having won four, drawn seven and lost one.
Burnley suffered frustration on a number of occasions as they conceded late equalisers to West Bromwich Albion, Cardiff City and Stoke City, with their failure to put games to bed proving costly in the early weeks of the season.
By contrast, Leicester are top of the table with 33 points having won 11 of their first 12 games, with their only defeat coming at home to Hull City in September.
The Foxes' performances have not always been convincing, but the quality in their side has got them over the line, and while the Clarets frequently conceded late goals, Leicester often improve in the second half of matches.
With 14 more points than Burnley had at this stage last season, the Foxes are in an incredibly commanding position, and it is ominous for the rest of the division.
Comparisons with Burnley are inevitable given Leicester's start to the season, but Maresca rejected the suggestion that his side are better than the Clarets' title-winning team.
"I don’t think we are better than Burnley to be honest. Because they destroyed the Championship last year with 101 points. In this moment, we still need 70 more points to go a little bit more than them," Maresca told Leicestershire Live.
"It’s disrespect to talk about us and not Burnley. We are happy because everything is working well.
"This is the journey that we start and the direction is correct. But we don’t know if in the second half (of the season), we slump. We don’t know. It’s football. Many things can happen.
"The only thing we can control is the way we want to play. The results depend on many details."
Maresca is right to point out that it is still early in the campaign, but should his side maintain their form, they are on course to beat Burnley's points total from last season.
Leicester have conceded just seven goals this season, the fewest in the division, giving them a solid platform for their success, and having also scored more than any other team in the league, it is an incredibly dangerous combination.
The Foxes will suffer setbacks over the course of the campaign, but they have responded superbly to their defeat against Hull earlier in the season, and they have the strength in depth to cope with any potential injury crisis.
It already seems unlikely that anyone will be able to stop Leicester, and they look set to become one of the best teams in Championship history.