Leicester City fear relegation after suffering yet another away defeat against Watford at Vicarage Road
Foxes are looking over their shoulders having picked up just one point on the road this season
LEICESTER CITY have mentioned the ‘R’ word for the first time this season.
Not Ranieri or Riyad but RELEGATION.
It is now 78 years since Manchester City became the only champions of England to be relegated the next season.
The Foxes are now just two points off the drop zone and unless they rediscover some sense of their former selves soon it is a statistic that could start looming large.
They were floored by Etienne Capoue’s opener after just 33 SECONDS, paving the way for yet another miserable afternoon on the road.
They are now the third reigning champions, after Leeds in 1992 and Blackburn in 1995, to start a Premier League season without a win in their opening six away matches.
And look what has happened to those two clubs over the last two decades.
Boss Claudio Ranieri, whose team face Club Brugge in the Champions League tomorrow, admitted: “The relegation zone is very close and we have to react. It’s not a worry at the moment but we have to see.
“Last season I was always watching behind me and this season is the same. Of course I expected it to be hard this season but not so much. I expected more points.
“Now we have to be compact and continue to work hard because there is only one medicine — working hard and being together.”
Yet again Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez who did so much to help the Foxes pull off the shock of the century last season struggled to re-discover their magic.
Referee Neil Swarbrick had barely blown the whistle before Danny Drinkwater lost possession. It let Troy Deeney and Roberto Pereyra set up Capoue to lash home.
Then, in the 12th minute, Pereyra rounded Drinkwater before unleashing a superb volley from 15 yards. Three minutes later the visitors managed to pull a goal back when Miguel Britos brought down Vardy and Mahrez converted the penalty.
Foxes skipper Wes Morgan said: “Our league form is poor. Things aren’t going as we’d have liked. Nine of the starting line up were regulars from last season but things aren’t coming together.
“Momentum is a big thing. Once we find our consistency again, hopefully that will change our luck and we can start climbing up that table.”
Watford have already done that and sit eighth, bouncing back from a 6-1 thrashing by Liverpool before the break.
Swiss midfielder Valon Behrami said: “With respect we looked like a League One team at Anfield.
“The way we started this game . . . it was like two weeks of pent-up frustration. We had a lot of time to think about the mistakes.
“I suffered a lot. I was with the national team but I was thinking about that game and couldn’t wait to put it right.”