Whether Brendan Rodgers is indeed a man on borrowed time at Leicester is a question for the owners, but the 49-year-old is under no illusions that his position will come under threat if Leicester show no signs of rising above the dotted line.
Yet to recover from an extremely quiet transfer window, the Foxes gave Tottenham a decent run for their money in the first half before the international break, but Rodgers’s men had no answer to Son Heungq-min’s 13-minute hat-trick off the bench as another loss befell them.
Rodgers continues to publicly back himself and his players to turn their season around, but the need for inspiration is growing desperate, as Leicester sit rock bottom of the Premier League table with only one point to their name from seven matches and cannot break out of the relegation zone no matter what transpires this weekend.
Finding the back of the net has not been the issue for Leicester, who are the only side in the bottom nine to have already scored 10 goals this term – not even Chelsea or Manchester United have managed that – but shipping a league-high 22 highlights the root of their struggles.
Since drawing with Brentford on the opening day, Leicester have suffered six consecutive defeats in the top flight and could now open a league season with four winless home games for the first time since 2001-02, where they were eventually relegated.
Signing every Tom, Dick and Harry in the summer transfer window has not led to the desired formula for success for Nottingham Forest, whose own shortcomings in the defensive third have been biting them hard in the early weeks of the season.
Taiwo Awoniyi took just 11 minutes to put the Tricky Trees ahead against Fulham in the battle of the newly-promoted sides, but Joao Palhinha, Tosin Adarabioyo and Harrison Reed all netted in a six-minute period for the Cottagers before Lewis O’Brien’s 77th-minute consolation.
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Forest’s four-game losing streak in the Premier League means that the visitors only sit one place and three points clear of Leicester in the embryonic rankings, although Cooper’s side have managed to do what their hosts have failed to so far – win a game.
Conceding 14 goals across their four defeats will be a cause for concern for Cooper, whose side have taken just one point from their three outings away from home so far and have conceded a joint-high five goals from set pieces this term – Leicester are unsurprisingly the other leaders in that category.
Forest memorably thumped Leicester 4-1 when the sides met in the FA Cup last term – only their second victory from their last nine against the Foxes – and both managers ought to feel that a morale-boosting victory is theirs for the taking here.
