EPL form a worry as Leicester enters defining week in Europe

“I just think a lot of the chances I was getting last year have not been there this year”.

With the same squad available, fans were, of course, hoping for a similarly successful season that would see their team challenging. It doesn’t matter that it was the champions but what pleases me is the performance and we played how I always want to play.

“I don’t think there is a big difference [compared to last season], only the results are different”. I’m not happy about it, but I’m confident that we will respond.

“The gaffer [interim manager Gareth Southgate] has given me my start, I got my goal but unfortunately we couldn’t hold on to get the win”, he said.

“At the end of the day the team comes first and it’s about how you’re working hard for the team – the bonuses come after, which is obviously the goals”. Clearly, though, there are problems to address when it comes to their Premier League form.

Mahrez, who signed a new contract at Leicester only in August, believes that nothing is particularly wrong as he said that “sometimes in football you can play good and lose”.

His opener today made it five goals from nine shots on target in the Premier League this campaign, the Frenchman is on fire.

Leicester approach at the start of the second period was much more convincing although the visitors’ attacking moves too often came to nothing because of a lack of quality service to Vardy.

Due to his minor groin injury, Islam has seen another setback which ruled him out of this weekend’s fixture against Watford.

They may be slipping into a relegation battle in the Premier League, but Leicester City can create another piece of club history in Tuesday’s Champions League encounter with Club Brugge. He is still a relative unknown in Europe, despite earning a Ballon d’Or nomination, and boss Claudio Ranieri said after Mahrez scored twice against Brugge in September the Champions League music had woken the winger up.

Even while preparing for a World Cup qualifier with his native Switzerland, Valon Behrami has admitted he still could not wait to get Watford’s defeat at Liverpool out of his system.

“We wanted to attack from the beginning, we wanted to do the same against Hull but that time we didn’t score”.

But champions or not, this is another season. “Our fairytale is continuing”, Ranieri said. Leicester, on the other hand, have looked nervous in their last two Champions League outings – barely venturing into Copenhagen’s half in a drab stalemate the last time out.