3 Leicester points to note following 3-0 defeat at Chelsea

Chelsea set the benchmark last season when it came to a team making an unflattering defence of their Premier League title when barely finishing in the top half of the standings. They eventually stumbled to 10th.

However, Leicester’s start to the campaign means they are well on track to taking over the tag of the worst Premier League title defence ever. The Foxes’ 3-0 defeat to Chelsea leaves them averaging a point-per-game across their opening eight fixtures.

Here are three talking points to take from the victory at Stamford Bridge:

Leicester’s away-day woes show little sign of improving

Claudio Ranieri’s men remain unbeaten at the King Power Stadium in four outings at home, but they are still waiting to collect a first point on the road.

Having only lost twice in away matches all last term en route to the title – at Arsenal and Liverpool – they have now been beaten by Hull, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea in the present campaign.

They had the best defensive record on the road last season when shipping only 18 goals in 19 matches. They have already conceded 13 this time around.

Accuracy problems in attack

For only the third time across the whole Premier League this season, Leicester failed to register a single shot on target at Chelsea. This has previously happened for Middlesbrough against Everton and Burnley against Chelsea.

Providing chances for Jamie Vardy is a fairly obvious solution, with the England striker having only 13 goal attempts in Leicester’s opening eight matches and hitting the target with just four.

Vardy averaged over three attempts per game last term and hit the target with a greater ratio of his attempts.

A question of priorities

Before the game Ranieri spoke of Leicester’s upcoming schedule, which involved a run of seven matches in 22 days.

Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani were rested for the Chelsea defeat, especially having featured in Algeria’s recent draw with Cameroon.

With back-to-back home matches against Copenhagen and Crystal Palace next, Ranieri may have decided that the trip to London was the least likely where the Foxes could gain a positive result.

Having already beaten Club Brugge and Porto in the Champions League, victory over Copenhagen would all-but confirm Leicester’s qualification for the knockout rounds of the competition from Group G.

Ensuring Mahrez, in particular, is well rested and fully fit for this fixture seems to have been considered as the most important priority.

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