Leicester's run-in: The teams that stand between the Foxes and the Premier League title

Leicester have 13 more games to maintain their lead at the top of the Premier League and make history as 5000/1 outsiders - here are six crucial encounters.

Will it be a Valentine's Day massacre? There is precedent here, since the Gunners are the only side this season to have really mauled Claudio Ranieri's men: the 5-2 drubbing at the King Power Stadium on 26th September is Leicester's worst defeat of the season by some margin.

That day, however, pretty much everything went Arsenal's way: Jamie Vardy had put Leicester ahead, but Theo Walcott got them back on terms before a hat-trick by the rampant Alexis Sanchez decided the game.

When the sides meet next Sunday, it'll be two very different teams: at the time of writing the Gunners haven't scored a Premier League goals since January 13th, and haven't won in the league since January 2nd. Leicester, by contrast, will go into the match having picked up nine points and scored eight goals in their last three matches.

The Foxes follow their match against Arsenal with home clashes against Norwich and West Brom, neither of which look likely to tax them.

After that, however, they take on Quique Sanchez Flores's Watford side, who have shown themselves to be a dangerous outfit at home with wins over Liverpool and West Ham. Yet the've fallen short against the table-topping sides: Manchester City, Tottenham and Arsenal have all won comfortably at Vicarage Road this season, so there's little to suggest that Leicester won't prevail - just as they did back in the reverse fixture in November.

After the trip to Watford, Leicester entertain Newcastle, travel to Crystal Palace, host Southampton and then go to Sunderland, none of which should faze them in the slightest.

After that, they have a trickier match as they welcome West Ham, who on current form look very likely to be fighting for a European spot.

But again, Leicester must be favourites: they won 2-1 at West Ham back on the first day of the season, and the Hammers campaign has been built on excellent home form rather than their displays on the road.

What a climax to the season. Leicester's toughest matches have all been thrown into batches this term: they faced Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool and Manchester City in successive matches back in December, and the upcoming match against Arsenal is part of a run of three that has also pitted them against Liverpool, Manchester City.

The Foxes have acquitted themselves outstandingly well in those key moments, but will they do so again in their final three games of the season? While they've kept their feet on the ground outstandingly well so far, will that sang froid still be present once we get to what Alex Ferguson would have called "squeaky bum time"? After all, in the last four years we've seen teams including Manchester United and Liverpool mess up during the final few matches of the season (with Manchester City being the beneficiaries both times).

Yet if Leicester were going to implode, wouldn't it have happened by now? And what sort of Manchester United and Chelsea sides will they be up against in any case?

United have shown signs of resurgence recently but still have many questions to answer, and it remains possible that Louis van Gaal won't even be the manager come the end of April. Yet it's also highly possible that United will be scrapping for their Champions League lives, and that Van Gaal will be inspiring the great turnaround in form that he needs in order to patch up his bleeding reputation. So while a 1-1 draw in their match earlier this season suggests that the Foxes have nothing to fear, United could well put a dent on Leicester's run-in.

As for Everton? They'd been pretty awful for most of the past few months, but have now just banged three goals past both Newcastle and Stoke in their last two matches. It just depends which Toffees side turns up on the day.

And finally, Chelsea. What a dream it would be for Ranieri, to lift the Premier League trophy at Stamford Bridge, the club who threw him out a dozen years ago in order to bring in Jose Mourinho. Will the Blues put up a fight? They are a tough proposition at the moment and are unbeaten under Guus Hiddink, but they are much more likely to have their eyes on cup glory rather than be focused on the league come mid-May. If not, however, they will fight brutally hard - both to impress their new manager and to make John Terry's final game for the Blues a memorable one. Not that it should matter: the signs right now suggest that Leicester will have wrapped up the title before the match even kicks off at Stamford Bridge.

One of the key things in Leicester's favour is that they have no more interest in any cup competitions this season. Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham all face severe fixture pile-up - particularly City, who face Chelsea in the FA Cup, Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League, Liverpool in the League Cup final and then Liverpool again in the league all within the space of 10 insane days from 21st February to 2nd March. City also face Arsenal on the penultimate day of the season, a match which is certain to have major Champions League implications for both sides, regardless of whether or not both clubs are still in the face for the title itself.

Arsenal have no League Cup muddying the waters, but they are still in the FA Cup and have the draining task of taking on Barcelona in the Champions League. They also have some serious matches to contend with: a trip to Old Trafford at the end of February, a visit to White Hart Lane on 5th March and a clash at Goodison Park on 19th March.

Tottenham have the worst potential fixture pile-up of the lot, thanks to the extra round of matches in the knockout stage of the Europa League. Spurs are also set to play away at Manchester next week - when City will surely be desperate to bounce back from Saturday's defeat - as well as games against West Ham, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea in March and April. They've had a great win streak recently, but that is at least partially thanks to a kind January and February fixture list.

So will Leicester do it? Frankly, it certainly looks that way. They have a better fixture list than their title rivals, fewer matches to play, no cup distractions… and of course an extremely healthy points cushion.

For the last 11 years in a row, the team top of the Premier League in February has gone on to clinch the title. Ranieri's men have every reason to be able to keep that run going.