With 85 minutes on the clock, Leicester were 3-0 up at the Etihad Stadium with Robert Huth on a hat-trick. Complete and utter madness. Even Foxes fans surely don’t mind the billing their side have received, with pundits, supporters and anyone to have watched football this season just stunned by their rise.

Their 3-1 win at Manchester City –Sergio Aguero sullied their clean sheet late on – puts Leicester SIX points clear at the top of the table, and in line for the most improbable of improbable title victories. Words cannot really do their achievement so far justice.

It was a typical display or energy, industry and desire, but we learnt much more about the King Power Stadium side’s mettle than we were, perhaps, expecting before kick-off, while a few lessons about Man City themselves and where they stand have also been broadcast.

Here are FIVE things learnt at the Etihad today…

Leicester are going to win the league, aren’t they!

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They are, aren’t they? In a season of utter madness, Leicester have been the maddest of the bunch, and with a six point lead, at time of writing, at the top of the table, they have the chance to be true heroes. A difficult game against Arsenal awaits, but with a 2-0 win over Liverpool and a 3-1 battering of Man City to look back on over the last week, the Foxes have to be full of confidence.

Neither were flukes, either! Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez look like £40m+ players, Huth and Wes Morgan are rock solid and Danny Drinkwater is a composed, assured midfielder. It’s all looking rather rosy.

They can’t do it, surely?

Leicester are so much more than Vardy and Mahrez

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As mentioned in the last slide, Leicester’s ‘other’ players deserve immense credit. While Mahrez netted against Man City and Vardy was a constant threat, Huth’s contributions at both ends of the pitch were, arguably, the biggest factor today at the Etihad Stadium. The ‘Berlin Wall’ may be unfashionable, but in this system he’s mightily effective alongside Morgan, Christian Fuchs and Danny Simpson.

A little further forward Danny Drinkwater and N’Golo Kante were the perfect mix of power and composure this afternoon, while Shinji Okazaki’s energy and fleet-footed skills came to the fore in Manchester.

If ever there was a game to illustrate the quality of this unit, this was the one!

Man City really miss Kevin De Bruyne

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He cost a massive £50m+ fee, but De Bruyne has been stunning this season. The Belgian has often been City’s biggest goal threat – he’s netted 12 times all told – and his knee injury suffered last on in their League Cup semi-final win over Everton may prove extremely costly.

City enjoyed plenty of possession against Leicester, but rarely carved the Foxes open, and even when they did they couldn’t –until late on - beat the man between the sticks. One feels that it may have been a little different with De Bruyne in the XI, with the one-time Chelsea man often the attacking catalyst Raheem Stering, David Silva and Sergio Aguero need.

This could well be Toure’s last season at Man City

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Hauled off at 3-0 down, Toure’s lethargy was clearly noticed by Manuel Pellegrini. It’s little cliché to suggest that the big Ivorian is a languid, lazy player, but a cliché is a cliché for a reason. Toure is a wonderful talent when firing at full capacity, but he can be a complete passenger in games against energetic and industrious opponents, as was shown this afternoon.

There have been links with a move to the emerging Chinese Super League, and it would seem that, with Pep Guardiola coming in, a switch to East Asia makes sense. Toure isn’t getting any younger, and his style just won’t fit well under the Spaniard… as we know from their time at Barcelona.

Guardiola has a pretty big job on his hands…

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Guardiola may have been watching this one from Germany today, and he’ll surely have been concerned when he switched his telly off. The Spaniard’s set to step into Pellegrini’s shoes at the end of the season, and will be, with his reputation, expected to bring instant success.

This City team, however, looks a little devoid of energy and creativity, with blunt instruments in midfield hardly the sort of options Guardiola will want. As well as this, the Citizens’ defence appears unable to defend one-on-one against pace, and the Spaniard’s sides have always relied upon defenders who can cover enough ground to allow full-backs to push on.