Four BIG Reasons Leicester May Not Retain EPL Title Next Season

Last season, English premier league champions, Leicester city went against all odds to clinch the title.

At the start of the season, no one gave the team a chance, as pundits thought its form was a flash in the pan. But as the ever-tough Premier League title race closed in, it became clear the team meant business.

Although truly, most top clubs were at that time in floundering forms, winning the league at the expense of such big clubs with bigger names was a feat to remember.

However, the title winning platform on which the East Midlands club has found itself may have raised it so high into an unknown realm with unusual circumstances to follow. These are some examined reasons which could create obstacles for the defending champions in the bid to retain its title.

Increased number of matches:

Leicester City now has to play more number of matches. Having qualified for the UEFA Champions League, the team will have to play over 50 games next season, which may intermittently cause burnout among the players. It is worthy of note that Claudio Ranieri played with minimal number of players throughout last season. It will not be an easy task to repeat such feat with more games to play. Coping with the tight schedule of games may even prove costly for the champions.

Departure of key players:

Having performed well last season, Leicester City players are being lured to bigger clubs with mouth-watering offers. Getting adequate replacement for these players will be uphill task and besides team cohesion will be in jeopardy if drastic changes occur. France midfielder, N’golo kante has moved to Chelsea while Riyad Mahrez and Ulloa considering moving to Arsenal and Swansea respectively.

However, Ranieri can only hope other players will follow the example of Jamie Vardy, who refused to sign for Arsenal even after his release clause was triggered earlier in the transfer window.

Pressure:

As league champions are faced with the challenge of repeating last season victorious performance. Teams will now go to King Power Stadium, home ground of Leicester City with extra caution, smaller teams will approach them with more defensive tactics. Their last season approach of soaking up pressure before hitting back on counter attack may not work as smaller teams will tend to also sit back to allow them do the playing while they defend.

The “season after title-winning” syndrome:

Most champions find it difficult to retain their title as they go into games with fear of not losing, which might work negatively against the players morale and the team’s performance collectively. Putting up performance with different set of players will a hurdle for the Foxes.