Leicester City go into the new Premier League season hoping to once again challenge for Champions League football after coming so close to a top-four finish last term.

The Foxes spent the vast majority of 2019-20 in the Champions League places and, while they ultimately missed out, they will fancy their chances of mixing it with the big boys again this time around.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at Brendan Rodgers's side ahead of the 2020-21 campaign.

How did they fare last season?

Very well, but with a nagging sense of what could have been.

Leicester looked nailed on for a Champions League spot during the first half of the campaign, only losing away to Manchester United and Liverpool in their opening 16 matches.

Twelve wins in that time, including a Premier League record 9-0 away triumph at Southampton as part of a run of eight in a row between October 19 and December 8, left the Foxes second in the table.

At that stage Leicester were outperforming even their title-winning team and sat a whopping 14 points clear of fifth-placed Manchester United and six above even Manchester City.

However, it was very much a season of two halves and Leicester won only six of their following 22 games to eventually finish fifth - a position they would have grabbed with both hands at the start of the campaign but one which ended up being disappointing given their incredible start.

It was not until the penultimate game of the season that Brendan Rodgers's side actually dropped out of the top four courtesy of a heavy defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, and even then they still had a chance to save themselves when they hosted fellow Champions League hopefuls Manchester United on the final day.

However, a 2-0 defeat saw them surrender the chance to return to Europe's top table once and for all in what was undoubtedly the lowest ebb of their season, while the high point had to come in their 9-0 obliteration of Southampton at St Mary's.

Biggest improvement needed

Away form.

It may seem strange to say for a team that set a new record for the biggest away win in English top-flight history last season, but ultimately it was Leicester's form on the road that cost them a Champions League spot.

Only Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur picked up more points in front of their own fans, whereas if only away form counted the Foxes would have finished eighth with eight defeats to their name - the same number as 15th-placed Brighton & Hove Albion.

Manager: Brendan Rodgers

A progressive manager who likes to play a passing style, Brendan Rodgers is still arguably tarnished with an unfair reputation in the Premier League given how his spell in charge of Liverpool ended.

The 47-year-old took the Reds to within a whisker of ending their title drought, though, and has since achieved the unprecedented feat of back-to-back trebles with Celtic, including one in which they did not lose a domestic game in any competition all season.

Since arriving at the King Power Stadium he has transformed Leicester from the Claude Puel era, earning a new long-term contract which will keep him at the club until 2025.

Key player: Jamie Vardy

Now 33, Jamie Vardy shows no sign of slowing down after scoring 23 goals to win his first ever Premier League Golden Boot last season.

The striker's journey from non-league has been well documented and he continues to prove himself as one of Europe's most prolific marksmen - one England would no doubt relish having if he was to be coaxed out of retirement.

Last season was Vardy's second-highest scoring at Leicester - just one goal behind the title-winning campaign - and with the likes of James Maddison teeing him up he will be hoping for another season of over 20 goals.

Summer transfer business

In
Timothy Castagne (£21.6m, Atalanta BC)
Cengiz Under (loan, Roma)
Wesley Fofana (£31.5m, Saint-Etienne)

Out
Andy King (released)
George Thomas (free, Queens Park Rangers)
Nampalys Mendy (released)
Daniel Iversen (loan, Leuven)
Ben Chilwell (£45.2m, Chelsea)
Ryan Loft (free, Scunthorpe United)
Viktor Johansson (free, Rotherham United)
Bartosz Kapustka (free, Legia Warsaw)
George Hirst (loan, Rotherham United)
Fousseni Diabate (£1.4m, Trabzonspor)
Darnell Johnson (loan, Wigan Athletic)
Adrien Silva (free, Sampdoria)
Rachid Ghezzal (loan, Besiktas)
Josh Knight (loan, Wycombe Wanderers)
Mitch Clark (loan, Port Vale)
Sam Hughes (loan, Burton Albion)
Matty James (loan, Barnsley)
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (loan, Luton Town)
Filip Benkovic (loan, Cardiff City)

Leicester total spent to date: £55.8m
Leicester total received to date: £46.6m

Leicester net transfer balance: -£9.2m

Squad

1. Kasper Schmeichel (GK)
2. James Justin (DF)
4. Caglar Soyuncu (DF)
5. Wes Morgan (DF)
6. Jonny Evans (DF)
7. Demarai Gray (MF)
8. Youri Tielemans (MF)
9. Jamie Vardy (FW)
10. James Maddison (MF)
11. Marc Albrighton (MF)
12. Danny Ward (GK)
13. Islam Slimani (FW)
14. Kelechi Iheanacho (FW)
15. Harvey Barnes (MF)
16. Filip Benkovic (DF)
17. Ayoze Perez (FW)
18. Daniel Amartey (DF)
20. Hamza Choudhury (MF)
21. Ricardo Pereira (DF)
22. Matty James (MF)
23. Adrien Silva (MF)
24. Nampalys Mendy (MF)
25. Wilfred Ndidi (MF)
26. Dennis Praet (MF)
27. Fousseni Diabate (FW)
28. Christian Fuchs (DF)
33. Rachid Ghezzal (FW)
35. Eldin Jakupovic (GK)
56. Luke Thomas (DF)
- Timothy Castagne (DF)

Possible starting XI

Fixture list

Leicester City open their Premier League campaign at The Hawthorns against newly-promoted West Bromwich Albion on September 12, before welcoming Burnley to the King Power Stadium in their first home game of the season.

A difficult trip to Manchester City follows after that, while their festive period also looks challenging with Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United either side of Christmas.

The reverse match against United on May 11 kicks off a daunting end to the campaign too, with Chelsea and Tottenham to follow in their final three outings of the season.

SEPTEMBER

12: West Brom (a)

19: Burnley (h)

26: Manchester City (a)

OCTOBER

3: West Ham (h)

17: Aston Villa (h)

24: Arsenal (a)

31: Leeds (a)

NOVEMBER

7: Wolves (h)

21: Liverpool (a)

28: Fulham (h)

DECEMBER

5: Sheffield United (a)

12: Brighton (h)

15: Everton (h)

19: Tottenham (a)

26: Manchester United (h)

28: Crystal Palace (a)

JANUARY

2: Newcastle (a)

12: Chelsea (h)

16: Southampton (h)

26: Everton (a)

30: Leeds (h)

FEBRUARY

2: Fulham (a)

6: Wolves (a)

13: Liverpool (h)

20: Aston Villa (a)

27: Arsenal (h)

MARCH

6: Brighton (a)

13: Sheffield United (h)

20: Burnley (a)

APRIL

3: Manchester City (h)

10: West Ham (a)

17: West Brom (h)

24: Crystal Palace (h)

MAY

1: Southampton (a)

8: Newcastle (h)

11: Manchester United (a)

15: Chelsea (a)

23: Tottenham (h)

Prediction: 7th

Leicester outperformed even Man City during the first half of last season and it will be a difficult ask for them to do so again, particularly with Vardy and Schmeichel another year older and Ben Chilwell having left for Chelsea.

The arrival of Belgium international Timothy Castagne helps to soften the blow of that loss, while they have also been able to hang on to James Maddison in midfield and so they still have a talented team capable of battling for European qualification again.

However, there is a question mark over whether they have improved since last season, whereas the teams around them have seemingly taken bigger steps forward in their progress.