So dire is the economic situation at Leicester City that they have been unable to sign any new players this summer, while being forced into the sale of Wesley Fofana and Kasper Schmeichel to balance the books with UEFA’s financial fair play auditors circling.

Unsurprisingly, those concerns have manifested themselves on the pitch, and at the time of writing the Foxes are yet to win a single game in 2022/23 – five defeats in six starts, with an average of two goals conceded per outing, which speaks volumes as to their woes.

The football betting odds suggested that Leicester would experience a season of mid-table obscurity prior to a ball being kicked, and that was disappointing enough for their supporters given that the Foxes have won the Premier League and FA Cup in recent memory.

But their dismal start has dampened even those vanilla expectations, and now those that enjoy a Premier League bet online can now only get a price as short as 15/8 on them being relegated – according to the bookmakers, it is the Midlanders, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest that are the favourites for the dreaded drop.

One Leicester player who won’t shirk the challenge is Belfast’s own Jonny Evans. The 34-year-old has battled through adversity before thanks to a catalogue of serious injuries, and the defender is relishing a different kind of battle having been made club captain at the Foxes.

Evans told Leicester’s matchday programme ahead of the Southampton game that he was ‘in a good place’ after being given the armband, and believes he has the inclination of a natural leader. “You’ve just got to take things day by day, try not to overthink it and do everything with as much instinct and intuition as you can,” Evans said.

Given his team’s dismal start to the campaign, he may need to dig very deep into his reserves to help Leicester stave off relegation this term.

No Case for the Defence

At this present time, Evans must feel like the captain of a rapidly sinking ship trying desperately to bail out enough water to stay afloat.

His regular central defensive partner, Caglar Soyuncu, appears to have been cast into the wilderness having been rumoured with a move abroad throughout the summer, and while others can be deployed at the heart of the defence Evans is now the only recognised centre back in this Leicester squad.

The loss of Schmeichel’s shot-stopping and leadership will also hurt – particularly as his replacement, Danny Ward, had prior to this term made just three Premier League starts in a career spanning more than a decade.

Evans himself has got off to something of a sluggish start, and former Arsenal striker turned pundit Ian Wright suggested the Belfast man should retire after being put to the sword by the Gunners in a 2-4 defeat back in August.

These are worrying times indeed for Leicester fans, but at least they have a captain with a never say die attitude. If the Foxes do suffer relegation this season, it won’t be due to a lack of blood, sweat and tears from Evans, that’s for sure.