The champions of England did not have the best of starts to the defence of their title. Leicester City were surprisingly defeated by Hull City in the opening game of the Premier League season and that might have seemed like a shock to many but in reality, the result just followed the same pattern as last season.
Leicester’s win in the Premier League was one of the biggest stories in the world of sport and many had suggested that the club would find it tough to replicate that this season, after all, winning the Premier League is a tough ask but defending your title is almost impossible in the era of the Premier League.
The loss does mean that Leicester have a lot of hard work to do to ensure they win the league but it will be just as tough as keeping a top four place. The Foxes might have bought smart in the window but a lot of other clubs have also done the same.
With the Premier League being extremely competitive and unpredictable, here are three reasons why Leicester will not be in the top four come the end of the season.
Tough competition
If the first game of the season does not give you an idea of how tough the league is nothing will. The newly promoted side did lose out their manager after promotion and are guaranteed to be relegated.
That was just Hull City and then there are 18 other clubs that Leicester will have to deal with. Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City are the club who will be fighting the Foxes for a top six finish and it will be extremely hard for Leicester to continue their run from last season.
Then there are the other teams who also have strengthened, Stoke City, West Ham United and even Middlesbrough look decent outfits and certainly, will provide Leicester with a lot of tight contests this season.
Extra games
The Foxes were lucky in one manner that they did not have to play European games last time around. Winning the Premier League has put the team from Leicester into the Champions League group stages and that means more travelling and more midweek games, something that Claudio Ranieri will have to navigate around.
The Italian stuck with a starting XI for most of the season and made one of two changes in between due to injuries or suspensions but he has to work with a proper squad now and will have to rest players.
That chopping and changing certainly will hurt Leicester and playing two games in a week which are full throttle won’t give them enough time to rest either. That could be the biggest issues when it comes to defending their title, they will not have a lot of rest.
The mentality of key players
While Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez stuck around at the club, the loss of N’Golo Kante will hurt the side immensely. It isn’t the only the fact that the French midfielder moved to Chelsea, the other key players have also been linked with a move to a bigger club (at least monetary wise) and that will still be playing in their minds.
What Leicester did was phenomenal last season but that does not mean they will repeat it this season, the Foxes are good but there are a number of clubs who want to sign their players and sooner or later they will move.
Knowing this fact will certainly affect some of the players in the side and their performances might get hampered. The Premier League still has 37 games more for Leicester to play but a top four finish does look out of their hands at the moment.