Yes, it's time to take Leicester City's Premier League title bid seriously

The time has finally come to properly recognize and respect the best and most consistent team in the Premier League. And that team would be Leicester City.

As in league-leading Leicester City, the favorite to win the Premier League title.

[ Premier League: Scores and Schedule | Current Standings | Teams ]

It's the first week of February and the Foxes still sit atop the Premiership. This surprising front-running is boosted by the fact that Leicester is not playing in Europe. Manchester City and Arsenal both have to contend with extra midweek fixtures and international travel for Champions League, and even Tottenham and Manchester United face road trips in the Europa League. So Leicester, no longer involved in domestic cup competitions, has an undeniable advantage over its Premier League competition.

While scheduling will certainly help for the final few months of the season, Leicester City sits at the top of the heap because of its consistency on the pitch. Only two defeats after 24 rounds fit into the framework of a team on course to win the title. With almost two-thirds of the season complete, the sample size should no longer come into question. Tuesday's 2-0 victory over Liverpool reinforced that the Foxes are for real.

[ FC Yahoo: The Premier League title contender that no one is talking about ]

Leicester, however, did experience a period of adversity. The Foxes had only one victory over five matches from Boxing Day until the middle of January. But even after that dip in form, they still sit three points clear at the top of the league.

Is this a fluke? Where did Leicester City come from? And are the Foxes really good enough to claim Premier League hardware?

Two seasons ago, Leicester sat one division below the Premier League, in the Championship, and allegedly broke the rules of Financial Fair Play by reporting a greater loss than what was allowed – by more than double the allotment, actually. However, Premier League promotion led to a scrappy relegation battle and safety in the richest league on the planet, so the issue has simply been forgotten, rather than necessarily resolved.

If Leicester makes the Champions League, issues may arise. For now, though, its Cinderella story should continue.

For this second straight season in the top flight, the Foxes brought in experienced Italian manager Claudio Ranieri. In truth, Ranieri expected to fight off relegation rather than battle for the top of the Premier League entering February. Ten points above fifth-place Manchester United, Leicester has played far superior football than the Red Devils this term, in consistency and on the whole. As such, Leicester finishing in the top four Champions League places should no longer be in question.

Under Ranieri's watchful eyes, Leicester’s primary striker, Jamie Vardy, leads the league with 18 goals, while the Foxes’ primary attacking playmaker, Riyad Mahrez, has 13 to rank fifth in a tie with Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero. No other team even manages to feature two players in the top 10 scorers, and that includes the bustling budgets of the Manchester clubs, Arsenal and Chelsea.

Vardy’s story is inspiring enough to, well, inspire talk of a film. The former factory worker from Sheffield was playing non-league football as recently as 2012. Prior to that, Vardy spent his formative football years down the ladder. Fast approaching 30 years old, Vardy’s scintillating combination of speed and stamina have sparked the Foxes' surprising title challenge.

Mad as it may be to imagine, Mahrez may be even more of Leicester’s star player. The 24-year-old Algerian first joined the club in January of 2014 after signing with French Ligue 2 side Le Havre in 2010. In his second Premier League campaign, Mahrez has already tripled his goals output from his first season along with tripling his assist output from last term.

Leicester’s attack may have gotten all the attention early in the season, but its midfielders have established themselves as worthy talents, too.

Largely unknown midfielders Marc Albrighton and Daniel Drinkwater have combined for 10 assists. The 26-year-old Albrighton, who made his Premier League debut with Aston Villa during the 2009-10 season, joined Leicester in 2014 after the club’s promotion to the Premiership. Drinkwater, 25, a former Manchester United product, has been with the central England club since 2012, and his promising play figures to make him a transfer target this summer.

Central midfielder N’Golo Kante may only have one goal on the season, but he is as vital to the midfield as Vardy and Mahrez are to the attack. The 24-year-old’s activity and ability to break up the opposition’s play in the middle of the park makes him stand out despite his diminutive 5-foot 6-inch stature.

Leicester has notable depth in midfield with players like Gokhan Inler and Nathan Dyer. Also, City has depth in attack with players like Shinji Okazaki and Leonardo Ulloa, both of whom have been known to knock in goals from time to time.

When the frontline did go dry on Boxing Day, Leicester City’s backline stepped up and proved its championship mettle. Robert Huth – an experienced German defender that has featured with Chelsea, Middlesbrough and Stoke City – is a towering figure of Premier League experience for a side that desperately needs it, and club captain Morgan has been with Leicester City since 2012 after a decade at Nottingham Forest. Together, the central defenders have started 23 of 24 Premier League matches and combined with goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to concede only 26 goals.

While that defensive record may not sound incredibly impressive, as it ranks seventh in the league, one should keep in mind that the Leicester City defense was only jumbled together over the 2015 calendar year. Last February, the 31-year-old Huth joined Leicester on loan and made the move permanent over the summer. Austrian fullback Christian Fuchs, who had spent the previous seven seasons in Germany, also arrived last summer, too.

Fuchs regularly played in the Champions League with Schalke 04, so the 29-year-old’s capture came as a surprise, but his success in England should not be shocking by any measure. Fuchs should provide valuable experience if and when the Champions League comes calling next season.

Former Man United youth product Danny Simpson, 29, completes an experienced backline that may not be perfect or full of star players, but it performs on the pitch. Since a 1-0 defeat to Liverpool on Boxing Day, the Foxes have played six Premier League matches and only allowed one goal.

From the back to the front, Leicester City has a squad that defends with guile and intellect, controls the middle of the park, attacks with zesty pace and scores goals at a title-winning rate. Into the seventh month of the Premier League season, the Foxes are still top of the Premier League and deserve to be leading the pack. Now, more than ever before, Leicester City should be considered clear-cut title favorites.

Shahan Ahmed is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow Shahan on Twitter: @ShahanLA and @perfectpass