Leicester City star Jamie Vardy has now scored in eight games consecutively and is nearing his milestone from the historic 2015/16 season when he scored in 11 consecutive matches.
Since Brendan Rodgers’ appointment in February, Vardy has scored 24 goals – which is more than any other player in the league by some distance. With 96 goals in 192 games, he’s just shy of having an average of scoring a goal in every other game.
The last time he was on a goalscoring spree, the Foxes produced one of the biggest shocks in sporting history to win the league title in the 2015/16 season. From August to November that season, Vardy was simply unstoppable, as he broke Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record by scoring in 11 matches in a row.
Quite fittingly, he broke the record with a goal against Manchester United – the club Van Nistelrooy played for.
Vardy’s pace and clever runs in behind were key to that sensational title triumph, as the striker embraced the counter-attacking football played under Claudio Ranieri. And now, under Brendan Rodgers, Vardy looks almost unstoppable.
If the striker continues his rich vein of goalscoring form, he could be back in contention for the England squad. As per Gareth Southgate himself, the ‘door is open’ for the Vardy to make a comeback from retirement (h/t The Guardian).
Vardy stepped down from international duty following their semi-final exit in the World Cup 2018. With Harry Kane fully established as England’s first-choice central striker, the Foxes veteran walked away from the international scene, having earned 26 caps for his country in total.
The 32-year-old has consistently been among the Premier League’s top goal-scorers in recent years and heads the list in the current campaign with 16 in as many appearances.
Although he was not included in Southgate’s final 27-man list for the Euro 2020 qualifiers last month, Vardy is capable of making it in the near future. At 32, Vardy is getting faster, and is finishing like a teenager, if not better.
For England, Tottenham’s Harry Kane is the first-choice striker at the moment, with Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford and Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham acting as back-up. But Vardy still has life left in him and given the kind of goalscoring form he is in, he would easily fit the national setup and contribute to Southgate’s side.