The Last Days Of The Roman Empire: Previewing Leicester vs. Crystal Palace

For a fleeting moment at the end of last season, it felt as if Claudio Ranieri would reign immortal. He had just led Leicester to their first ever top-tier title, breaking the corporate stranglehold on the Premier League. In the face of almighty odds, the massive budgets and glittering talent of the traditional top six, he achieved the miraculous, and saw Leicester crowned champions. It was hard to take it in at the time, and hindsight has only made it more fantastical. He had built an empire at the King Power Stadium, raising up its spires, temples and towers from a foundation of whimsical reverie and dreams.

Now, however, that empire seems to be buckling. Much like the rulers of ancient Rome, Ranieri seems to have overstretched himself, and faces fearful instability as a result. Being a native of Rome himself, Ranieri will understand better than most what it means to collapse under the weight of such pressure. He has seen the crumbling ruins; the fallen monuments; the imperious slabs of marble left neglected in the dust.

Though Leicester are as fierce as ever on foreign soil, Ranieri needs to consolidate his footballing heartlands. When the Foxes meet ninth-placed Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon, they will start the game three points off the visitors and four places behind them in 13th spot. Leicester have a perfect record in Europe at the moment and comfortably top their Champions League group, but that might start to feel like a poisoned chalice if their domestic form doesn't improve. Fail to get a result against Palace, and they could feasibly find themselves just above the relegation zone. That will leave Ranieri's empire with the barbarians at the gates, the barbarians in this case being Stoke, Swansea and Sunderland.

While a dreamlike Champions League run is all well and good, that will only be undermined by a serious slide in domestic form. Should the shadow of relegation end up hanging over Leicester's European adventure, the likelihood is that the whole thing will come crashing down in a cloud of dust and splintered debris. As such, Ranieri needs to muster the troops, rally his forces and deliver a decisive blow to Crystal Palace this weekend. From there, the glory of the empire might be reestablished. From there, Leicester's dreamland might be restored.