Leicester City: Can Jamie Vardy keep the Foxes top of the Premier League? How teams leading after 13 matches fared

In the past 12 seasons, only four teams top of the league at this stage of the season have failed to go on to lift the title

Vardy's goals have been instrumental in Leicester's dream start (Getty Images)

After 13 matches of an unpredictable Premier League season, Leicester City are top of the table.

The club’s extraordinary run of form, fired by Jamie Vardy’s record-equalling scoring spree, has captured the imagination and provided a triumphant return to English football for Claudio ‘The Tinkerman’ Ranieri.

It has been a fairytale start, but conventional wisdom dictates that it will come to an end – Vardy will eventually stop scoring, the feel-good factor will wear off and Leicester will gradually slip down the table.

However, past seasons have shown that while we may still be in November, being top after 13 games is no flash in the pan.

Top after 13 matches: Where they finished

2003/04: Arsenal (1st)
2004/05: Chelsea (1st)
2005/06: Chelsea (1st)
2006/07: Man United (1st)
2007/08: Arsenal (3rd)
2008/09: Chelsea (3rd)
2009/10: Chelsea (1st)
2010/11: Chelsea (2nd)
2011/12: Man City (1st)
2012/13: Man United (1st)
2013/14: Arsenal (4th)
2014/15: Chelsea (1st)

In the last 12 seasons, only four teams that were leading at this stage of the season have failed to go on to lift the Premier League title.

And since the league switched to a 38-game season in 1995/96, only one such team – Aston Villa, who finished sixth in 1998/99 – has dropped out of the top four by the end of the campaign.

Ranieri has played down talk of Leicester continuing their run, insisting their priority remains survival.

The manager told the Telegraph: "I have a duty to keep our feet on the ground. We will aim for 40 points and then we will see."

There are mitigating circumstances. Leicester play Manchester United, Chelsea (14 points and 14 places below them), Liverpool and Manchester City in their next six fixtures – Ranieri calls it a "terrible cycle" –and face most of the big clubs away from home in the second half of the season.

But past seasons show that it in incredibly difficult to get to the top of the table this far into the season by fluke. An injury or drastic loss of form to Vardy could well prove calamitous for the Foxes, but Claudio Ranieri's side are leading the pack because they deserve to.