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Should Leicester be worried about their opening loss to lowly Hull?
Leicester City made history. First, last season as 5,000/1 champions and now in the opening match of this season, becoming the first reigning Premier League title winner to lose the first of the campaign.
The Foxes fell to Hull City, 2-1. The same Hull City who were in the Championship last year. The same Hull City whose manager quit weeks ago because they hadn't bought anyone, and who are now being run by a caretaker manager. The same Hull City whose own players have been making jokes about their lack of players, and who only had 13 players available on Saturday.
Should Leicester panic?
Not quite. Leicester aren't going to win the Premier League again.
The Foxes had a magical run last season, full of brilliant play, but also a fair bit of luck. They converted an incredible amount of their chances, at a rate that's entirely unsustainable. So it's no surprise that against Hull, they had more chances and better chances, but couldn't convert and lost as a result. That happens sometimes. These weird results happen to everyone every season, just not Leicester last season. And as the season goes on, the Foxes will win their fair share of matches like this.
Leicester also missed N'Golo Kante, which pretty much everyone figured they would. He's a terrific player and the Foxes were never going to be able to really replace him. Without him bossing the midfield, Leicester were a little bit more susceptible in defense and not as good in transition going both directions.
Essentially, the match went the way a handful of Leicester matches will probably go this season -- better, but unlucky or lacking that bit of sharpness. Maybe not to Hull, but the Tigers did play better than anyone expected and seemed to use all of their issues to band together.
It's also important not to read too much into the opening match of the season; small sample size and all. Leicester won't lose every match and they'll look better than they did against Hull, but there are aspects of their play that are right in line with what we should realistically expect from the Foxes.
Claudio Ranieri said repeatedly this summer that Leicester will not win the league this season and he's right. Most people picked them mid-table, which would be a fine finish for the Foxes. The only way the opening is a worry is if you thought they were going to repeat as Premier League champions, but we can put that thought to bed now. In case we hadn't already.
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