Leicester begin Premier League title defence with defeat at Hull

Premier League champions Leicester were stunned as they kicked off the defence of their title with a 2-1 defeat against newly promoted Hull, who had only 13 fit senior players, at the KC Stadium.

Claudio Ranieri took the opportunity to give two of his summer signings a first Premier League start. Luis Hernandez replaced the suspended Robert Huth in central defence and club-record signing Ahmed Musa partnered Jamie Vardy up front.

The Foxes had the better of the early exchanges in the first-half with Musa's pace down the left wing allowing Vardy a shot at goal in the 18th minute but the England international miscued his effort and Riyad Mahrez fired the follow-up wide.

On 25 minutes Leicester again came close, with Mahrez's fancy footwork causing Hull problems on the right wing but Danny Drinkwater's shot drifted narrowly off target.

Five minutes before the break Christian Fuchs saw an effort saved, makeshift defender Jake Livermore blocked a Vardy shot and Mahrez shot wide as Leicester stepped up their search for a first goal of the campaign with no success.

But they were made to pay for their profligacy in front of goal when Hull took the lead against the run of play in added time at the end of the half. Kasper Schmeichel saved excellently from Curtis Davies' header before the rebound was acrobatically kicked in by a combination of Abel Hernandez and Adama Diomande although it was officially awarded to Norwegian striker Diomande.

The lead was short-lived though, with Mahrez levelling things from the penalty spot after Demarai Gray was adjudged to have been fouled by Tom Huddlestone on the edge of the area just 14 seconds into the second-half.

Hull then got their noses back in front on 56 minutes with a powerful left-footed strike from Robert Snodgrass after sloppy defending from Leicester.

Ranieri changed things around in the 67th minute with Daniel Amartey and Shinji Okasaki replacing Andy King and Demarai Gray allowing Leicester to have a three-man attack.

But it didn't have the desired effect with Hull sitting deep and allowing little room for the Foxes to get behind and create chances as Claudio Ranieri's men returned to earth after their stunning success last season.