Despite being absolutely dog shite at defending at the moment, we find ourselves just five points outside the top four. With the exception on Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester City, most teams have been very up and down all season, and we are no exception. The number of points to finish 4th this year looks lke being a relatively low figure, so here's my take on things:
1. The defending has to improve eventually - it can't get much worse, let's face it (we're the fouth leakiest defence in the league). Once it does, if we can continue our pretty decent scoring prowess (we're the fifth highest scoring team in the league), wins will start becoming a more common occurrence.
2. We are likely to see some key players return to the fold pretty soon. Tielemans back will mean the Soumare/Ndidi combination will surely end, allowing Ndidi to do his job rather than trying to do what he is being asked to do now (which is anyone's guess). Fofana will bring much needed stability to the back line. Justin will give us more options when we play with attacking wing backs.
3. Maddison's form - one plus point is that he appears to have hit good form after what seemed like forever. Should this continue then that's only going to be a positive.
4. ACN: Daniel Amartey (Ghana), Nampalys Mendy (Senegal), Wilfred Ndidi (Nigeria), Kelechi Iheanacho (Nigeria). All out for a while obviously. To be honest, with the return of Fofana hopefully coinciding with this tournament, the only players that will be missed are Ndidi and Ihenacho. Soumare should be able to plug in where Ndidi fits, and Iheanacho might not be that sorely missed if (it's actually several big "ifs") Vardy stays on form (better still, improves), Lookman finds something resembling form, Barnes hots up a bit on the goal scoring front, and Maddison continues his goalscoring form.
5. Other teams: As mentioned, outside of the top three, most teams have been very inconsistent. We need this to continue. Let them keep taking points off each other. This is only useful however if we aren't one of those teams showing consistent inconsitency.
In summary, despite this season feeling very poor, we are in a relatively decent position. Should things go our way in relation to the above points, we could very easily find ourselves close to that top four again. Let's face is, we'd all much rather have a stuttering first half of the season, then hit our stride and finish strongly rather than start impressively before limping over the line like a half squashed snail.