Are Leicester repeating history after 3-1 loss to Arsenal?

Doing a Leicester City

Last season’s dismal form in the latter half inflicted a scar on the collective conscious of Leicester City fans. Any omen of poor play will reawaken the pain and bring forth the doomsayers amongst the pessimists. Some might label Rodgers as a bottle job on behalf of Liverpool’s (and Gerrard’s) infamous 2013-14 slip and last season’s antics.

Two matches are not indicative of a team’s season. Alas, this week’s games were disappointing. But to write off Leicester’s fortunes would be to underestimate the quality of results so far. A downturn in form seems inevitable, but the context is different. Ndidi and Maddison’s absences found the team in a lurch last season, but this year has been a bizarre game of injury whac-a-mole. Positions have been filled at will. Justin’s meteoric rise as one of the most promising players is a stark contrast to the unreliable defender we saw last season, and wholly thanks to Ricardo Pereira’s initial absence.

Should this omen come to fruition and pre-empt capitulation, inevitable comparisons will come. With Leicester City now having to contemplate playing with a vast amount of players missing, the natural tempo and partnerships that have been developed between key players will be missing. Vardy was visibly struggling with his groin during the match against Arsenal, and will potentially be leaving Tielemans as the only fit player capable of scoring. Given that his role in the team is traditionally deep and oriented towards providing support, the omen could be a dark one. Losing steam in the second half of the season could become known as ‘doing a Leicester’.