FA Cup offers Leicester the chance to stay relevant at a time of great division within the Premier League

More so than ever before, the fight for relevance has become an all-too-real struggle in the Premier League. Against the might and money of the top six, England’s secondary sides have increasingly found themselves dismissed as footnotes within the league’s overarching narrative, one that places emphasis on prestige, profile and personality.

In this day and age, then, it takes something a bit special – a historic English title will normally do it – to break the wheel. But even after tearing up the script in such unexpected fashion two seasons ago, former champions Leicester must now come to terms with the existential crisis that is threatening so many of the Premier League’s ‘irrelevant’ teams.

Although Leicester are not one of the 10-odd clubs that could be feasibly relegated this season, they find themselves caught in limbo, wrestling for prominence in football’s equivalent of no man’s land. Above them – Burnley excluded – the league’s elite battle it out for a place in Europe. Below them, the league’s embattled relegation contenders fight it out for survival. Stuck in the middle, alongside Everton and the Clarets, Leicester plod on.

There’s little doubt, however, that the club’s owners – ruthlessly cut-throat when necessary – won’t be content with this middle ground. From both a financial and footballing perspective, they’ll be all too aware of the long-term potential of the club’s title-winning season.

A perennial yo-yo team, having dropped as low as League One in 2008/09, such an achievement offered Leicester the opportunity to refashion themselves into something more than just Premier League fodder.

Comparisons have already been drawn with Southampton, a club who finished as high as sixth in the 2015/16 season – a feat that saw the club book their place in the Europa League. Indeed, it was only 15 months ago that Saints recorded a memorable 2-1 victory over Inter Milan in the group stages of the competition. This high point was the culmination of years of steady, well-managed development that had seen the south-coast club climb from the depths of League One to the heights of the Premier League.

For Leicester, there is a sense within the club that European football is by all means attainable. A spot in the Europa League would naturally mark a step forward for all involved, and consolidate the side’s new-found status as best of the rest, but, in reality, the Foxes’ best chance for recognition comes in the FA Cup.

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Against Sheffield United on Friday, Leicester have the chance to reach the quarter-finals of the Cup for the first time since 2012. Victory after that and the side will book a spot in the last four – something the club has not achieved since 1982. With the likes of Tottenham and Chelsea still in contention, the competition is stiff but the Foxes have more than proved themselves against such sides. Only a draw against Manchester City would likely spell the end of Leicester’s cup run – and even then it’d be unwise to write off a side whose propensity for upsetting the odds is well documented.

Reassuringly for fans, Claude Puel has made it clear that he won’t be taking the competition lightly. Speaking ahead of Friday’s clash he pledged to field a strong starting XI against the Blades. “Of course it will be a crucial game for us and I will pick a team to win,” he said. “We want to get as far as we can in the cup and it will be a strong team, like the last was.”

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With the waters more or less settled after Riyad Mahrez’s self-imposed exile, Leicester have the chance to kick on in both the league and the FA Cup. With so many of their rivals fixated on other matters, the Foxes must recognise the opportunity now in front of them. If they seize it, and claim a first-ever FA Cup title, it’ll be another landmark moment in the club’s history and one that points to tangible signs of progress at the King Power Stadium.