Leicester City must win £12m battle and avoid tepid end to Premier League season

Leicester City had a real shot at seventh place and European qualification because of their fixtures.

If they were going to put up a fight and haul in two of Manchester United, West Ham, and Wolves, they probably needed to win seven of their final nine games. Given seven of those nine were against bottom-half sides, it was doable.

But from the first three, against Newcastle, Everton, and Aston Villa, they have taken just two points and any lingering hopes of climbing the standings now require a truly outstanding run of form and an utter collapse from the teams above. On this front, Brendan Rodgers has pretty much conceded defeat.

But just because there is nothing tangible, like a European place, up for grabs in the Premier League, it doesn’t mean City can coast to the end of the season. There is still plenty riding on it.

In fairness to Rodgers, the manager has been trying to avoid all of the focus being on the club’s first European semi-final against Roma. He has been putting out strong teams – stronger than many fans anticipated against Villa – but the performances have not yielded results, City let down by final-third cutting edge, last-minute disasters, set-piece defending, and general tiredness.

And all of sudden they are now looking over their shoulder, rather than looking up. They have already slipped down one spot to 10th – but they do have two games in hand over ninth-placed Newcastle – and if they keep falling, it could have a real impact on the club.

There is a decent-sized chasing pack behind City, with every club down to Villa in 15th clear of relegation and pushing to rise the table. Most importantly, every finishing position is worth about £2m more in prize money, and so the difference between ninth and