Leicester’s faltering start to the season shows no signs of improving after they slipped to a narrow defeat at Legia Warsaw leaving their Europa League hopes hanging in the balance.
Leicester was unable to find a reply to Mahir Emreli’s 31st-minute strike and have only one point from their opening two Group C games, ahead of another difficult trip, to Spartak Moscow on October 20.
Ayoze Perez had a goal ruled out early in the second half and missed two other excellent chances, while Jannik Vestergaard’s point-blank header was somehow saved.
Yet Leicester was again far from the form that helped them finish fifth in the Premier League in each of the last two seasons.
Already missing Jonny Evans and Wilfred Ndidi due to illness and suspension respectively, Leicester also had to do without Kelechi Iheanacho after the forward was turned back by Polish border control because of a problem with his documentation.
Rodgers also chose to leave Jamie Vardy, James Maddison and Harvey Barnes on the bench and hand a start to home-grown midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
Leicester looked jittery from the off and could have conceded in the second minute when Mattias Johansson skated in from the right and saw his shot blocked by Daniel Amartey.
In the 10th minute, Patson Daka capitalized on a mix-up in the home defense to find Perez, whose effort was deflected wide. From Dewsbury-Hall’s corner, Cezary Miszta flapped but Perez was too slow to react and could only tap the ball back to the goalkeeper when presented with an open goal.
Moments later, Perez found Daka with a lofted pass, only for the summer signing to lose his footing and volley wide.
Despite those early chances, Legia looked well-organized and took the lead just after the half-hour. Amartey made a mess of clearing Josue’s pass and Emreli pounced, driving in off the post from the edge of the box.
Perez should have equalized just before the interval when Youri Tielemans found Daka, who flicked the ball into the Spaniard’s path. Yet with Miszta advancing, Perez failed even to hit the target, and Leicester went in at half-time trailing.
There was more frustration for Perez soon after the break when Perez turned home Tielemans’ corner at the far post only for the goal to be ruled out for a foul by Amartey on Ihor Kharatin.
Though Dewsbury-Hall was struggling to make an impression in open play, his deliveries caused Legia problems. From one corner, Vestergaard somehow failed to head past Cezary when unmarked four yards out, and the loose ball was hacked behind.
Dewsbury-Hall was replaced by Maddison and Leicester’s No10 looked lively. He produced a fine lofted pass for Daka, who got his feet in a tangle and shot wide.
Rodgers had also sent on Harvey Barnes and with 12 minutes remaining, he switched to a back four and brought on winger Ademola Lookman for Amartey.
Throughout the second half, Legia were relying only on the counter-attack and Emreli twice went close with shots from distance as Leicester were stretched at the back. The tension was growing, and Emreli and Caglar Soyuncu had to be pulled apart by their team-mates as Legia prepared to take a corner.
Maddison continued to look bright and from Timothy Castagne’s cross, his deflected strike was cleared from near the line by Mateusz Wieteska. From another counter-attack, substitute Lirim Kastrati destroyed Soyuncu and Vestergaard for pace but Kasper Schmeichel diverted his shot against the post.
Then another substitute, Tomas Pekhart, shot over from 12 yards after Kastrati had opened up Leicester again. Maddison tried to make them pay but slid a close-range finish just wide on the stretch.