Leicester City face a punishing Premier League run-in. Again.

The end of the last Premier League season was not great fun for Leicester City fans, as the Foxes’ wheels came fully detached before they were able to cross the finish line.

Injuries and poor form clearly take the brunt of the blame, but it didn’t help at all that we had to face two of the traditional “Big 7” in the final two games, plus a high flying Sheffield United before that.

So when the Premier League fixtures were announced this week (full list here) I’m sure I wasn’t the only fan who’s eyes were immediately drawn to the end of the list.

It doesn’t make pleasant reading.

Three of last season’s top 6 are waiting at the end of May; trips to Manchester United (3rd) and Chelsea (4th) before closing out at the KP against Tottenham Hotspur (6th).

You could call it disappointing, but at this point certainly not unexpected. The brutal final gauntlet has become something of a Leicester City tradition in recent years.

Last year it was United and Spurs. The year before it was Arsenal (who finished 6th), Manchester City (1st) and Chelsea (3rd).

The end of the 2017/18 looks almost like a relief in comparison, with just Arsenal (6th) and a final day trip to Spurs (3rd).

2016/17 only ended with Bournemouth (9th), but we had to get through Man City (3rd) and Spurs (2nd) again in the two previous fixtures.

I don’t know if many of you remember the ending to the 2015/16 Premier League season. It did go pretty well for us, but still included a visit to United (5th) and Chelsea, who had been champions the year before.

Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images

It certainly feels like a very long time since Esteban Cambiasso was bowing out in style against QPR in 2015.

I’m not here to say this is all a conspiracy of some kind for reasons I’m not sure of yet. But I’m not not saying that either.