Team Focus: Honeymoon Period Well & Truly Over for Frustrated Foxes

In the pre-season predictions any newly promoted side is generally tipped amongst those most likely to struggle. It's fair to say, however, that one will usually stand out as having the best chance to avoid the drop back down whence they came.

In this season's Premier League that side was understandably Leicester, such was the Foxes' dominance in the Championship in 2013/14, picking up 102 points and finishing 9 points clear of runners-up Burnley. Five games into the campaign upon their return to England's top tier it seemed those assumptions had been justified.

Nigel Pearson's men held Everton to a draw on the opening day and a fortnight later would do the same to Arsenal. Their first three points of the season then followed, with a 1-0 victory away at Stoke, before the game that, to most, was the greatest evidence yet that Leicester would not only survive, but do so relatively comfortably.

Trailing 3-1 to an admittedly unrecognisable United side, both in terms of form and personnel, Leicester would turn the game on it's head at the King Power stadium, running out 5-3 winners and sending their jubilant fans home in unsurprisingly confident mood. If not quite a dream start, amassing 8 points from the opening 5 games, it would go down as a real statement of their intent from what looked a hugely unenviable set of fixtures.

Unfortunately for Pearson and the Foxes support, however, the outlook after the five games thereafter looks significantly more bleak. Leicester have slipped into the bottom three since their memorable victory over United, joining their newly promoted counterparts in the relegation zone after adding just one point to their pre-existing tally.

Although the whole team were impressing in the early stages of the season, summer signing Leonardo Ulloa was undoubtedly the catalyst to their success. Many were shocked at the £7m outlay for a 28-year old striker that had only ever played one season in one of Europe's top five leagues, doing so for an Almeria side that finished bottom of La Liga in 2010/11.

Nevertheless the burly frontman became a fan favourite after making a switch to England with Brighton, netting 14 league goals in his only full season at the club, and acted fast to ensure he was held in a similar regard by the Foxes faithful. After 5 goals in the opening 5 matches of the season, including 4 in his first 3 home appearances, the risky signing was already looking like a masterstroke on Pearson's part.

However, if there has been one player that has mirrored the form of the club as a whole over the opening months of the season than it's certainly been Ulloa, perhaps indicative of his importance to the Midlands outfit already. Having hit 9 goals in the opening 5 matches of the season Leicester have managed just two since, coming in one game against Burnley, and their target man hasn't even been firing blanks.

The truth is he hasn't been firing anything at all, failing to muster a single shot over a period of four matches since dispatching a late penalty against United. They say that a striker that is getting into positions to score and just not managing to find the net is often still an encouraging sign. Pearson's concerns over a period of 367 minutes without a shot from his starting centre forward were clear and led to Ulloa being dropped for the match against West Brom last time out.

With no other player having netted more than once this season Leicester's reliance on a striker that hasn't proven to be particularly prolific or consistent in front of goal in the past is a genuine worry. It's not, however, there only big problem right now.

At the other end only Hull have conceded more shots in the Premier League this season (167) and while the likes of Wes Morgan and Liam Moore have been solid in the most part this season, despite the latter also getting the chop last weekend, the protection to the back four is perhaps an issue. The marquee signing of Esteban Cambiasso will have been expected to bolster the squad in that regard and while it could yet prove an inspired coup it's clear that, at 34, the former Inter man will not be able to play every week.

While Danny Drinkwater proved to be one of the strongest players in the Championship last season, his passing ability shone through as Leicester were able to dictate the play more often than not. With less of the ball to be able to do so this season - Leicester's possession dropping unsurprisingly from 53.1% last season to 46.8% this - his impact has certainly dwindled and the likes of Andy King and Dean Hammond are arguably 'not Premier League quality'. The hope, though, will be that Matty James is able to adjust to the rigours of the top-flight after an impressive showing last weekend.

An away trip to high-flying Southampton up next doesn't inspire great confidence that Leicester can put an end to their current plight before the international break, with meetings with Sunderland and QPR likely to be crucial ahead of a tough run in December.

It's evident that while Pearson's side are capable of competing with the best of them this season, having done so already, assumptions that they'll be safe before the relegation run in may well have been premature.

Will Leicester avoid a relegation dog-fight this season and recover their form from the start of the season? Let us know in the comments below