Middlesbrough 0-0 Leicester City: Claudio Ranieri forced to play Tinkerman

Daily Mail | January 2, 2017

Champions Leicester endured a muted start to 2017 as they drew a blank at Middlesbrough.

The surprise package of 2016 have struggled in defence of their title and it was the same old story at the Riverside Stadium on Monday as they failed to find a way past the Boro rearguard.

Minus Jamie Vardy and Islam Slimani, the Foxes rarely looked like breaching their opponents' defence, while Boro managed just a single shot on target across 90 minutes.

Middlesbrough defender Fabio rises to head the ball during a scrappy encounter between Boro and Leicester

Adama Traore is sandwiched by Christian Fuchs (left) and Riyad Mahrez during a low-key affair on Monday

Alvaro Negredo barely had a sniff up front for Boro as the Premier League clash ended in stalemate

Leicester defender Robert Huth fires the ball into the stands during a game lacking in quality

Middlesbrough goalkeeper Brad Guzan's expression illustrates how poor a game it was at the Riverside

And Fabio's outburst of frustration was another example of the emotions which filled Boro's home ground

Striker Alvaro Negredo spent a lot of time around the centre circle during the game, as shown by his match heat map, courtesy ofu00a0Sportsmail's excellent Match Zone service. More stats, graphics and analysis HEREu00a0 — Striker Alvaro Negredo spent a lot of time around the centre circle during the game, as shown by his match heat map, courtesy of Sportsmail's excellent Match Zone service.