Two Such Instances
Arsenal produced a dominant performance as they began their quest for a consecutive EPL Title. However, I was wondering if there have been instances of Champions losing their first game in their Title defence, and interestingly, I came across two such instances.
Leicester’s Triumph…
In what is regarded as one of the greatest underdog success stories, Leicester City, with 5000 – 1 pre-season odds, won the EPL Title in the 2015-16 season. The Foxes, under the watchful eye of Claudio Ranieri, secured the Championship on the 2nd of May 2016, after Tottenham played out a 2-2 draw against Chelsea to give Leicester an unassailable lead at the top.
… And Then A Damaging Loss
The fortunes, however, changed for the Foxes as they began their title defence against newly promoted Hull City in the 2016-17 season. Hull were without a Manager but packed a punch. Adama Diomande and Robert Snodgrass scored for Hull, neutralising a Riyad Mahrez penalty, to hand Leicester a shock defeat. The Foxes became the first Premier League Champions to lose on the opening day of the new season. Leicester couldn’t ever recover from this loss and have been relegated for two seasons now.
Chelsea’s Burnley Test
The second instance came up the very next season. Chelsea had won the Premier League in 2016-17 under Antonio Conte and were looking good to defend their crown. But unfortunately the Blues ran into an even more inspired Burnley on the opening day of the 2017-18 season.
… And A Nightmare At Stamford Bridge
It was a nightmare for the Blues at Stamford Bridge. Captain Gary Cahill was sent off, and Burnley took full advantage and galloped to a 3-0 lead with a brace from Sam Vokes and a goal from Stephen Ward. Chelsea fought back with Morata and David Luiz scoring in the second half, but Burnley held on to secure a very famous victory. Chelsea were overthrown and have yet to lay their hands on the EPL Title since.
The Eventual Deep Scars
There is absolutely no doubt that opening day losses for Champions lead to deep scars which had a bearing on their performances for a long, long time to come.
No such worries for the Gunners, though.