Though the hunters of England are truly now the hunted, manager Claudio Ranieri has stuck to his pragmatic ways as champions Leicester City begin defence of their title Saturday at KC Stadium against Hull City Tigers to kick off the 2016-17 Premier League season.And that means the first benchmark Ranieri has set for the Foxes is again 40 points despite their incredibly amplified profile following their unlikely title run and upcoming European adventures in their first Champions League appearance.Forty points, forty points, Ranieri responded when asked about the teams goals following Leicester Citys 2-1 loss to FA Cup winners Manchester United in the Community Shield match at Wembley Stadium last Sunday, using his fingers to make the 4 and the 0 for added emphasis as reporters chuckled.Dont laugh. Im starting with the same philosophy and the same humility … what we achieved, it was fantastic. But now, forty points. Forty points is the target, and then we will see how many months less to the end of the season.Leicester City were the story of European football last season, bucking 5,000-to-1 odds to win their first Premier League title in franchise history. The Foxes finished 10 points clear of runners-up Arsenal and became just the sixth team to lift the trophy in the Premier League era, and the first outsiders since Blackburn Rovers in 1995.With the title came the spoils, including their first taste of high-calibre international play during the summer. Leicester City participated in the International Champions Cup and won one of their three matches -- beating Celtic in a penalty shootout before defeats to European powers Paris-St. Germain and Barcelona by a combined 8-2 scoreline.But success always comes with a price. In addition to re-working Jamie Vardys contract for the second time in less than a year, Leicester City continue to sweat out transfer rumours regarding 2016 PFA Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez and lost midfield engine NGolo Kante, the apple of Antonio Contes eye as the new Chelsea manager reshapes the 2015 champions.The good news, though, is Kante is so far the only noticeable departure from this championship-winning side. And the Foxes went about their summer transfer business similar to seasons past -- hoping shrewd under-the-radar moves will reap dividends similar to how Vardy, Mahrez and Kante became the fulcrum of this unlikely champion squad.Nampalys Mendy was brought in from French side Nice with the hope he can provide some of the box-to-box coverage Mahrez did, and Rainieri -- who signed a new four-year contract Wednesday -- is quite familiar with the 24-year-old, having coached him during a brief spell at Monaco.Leicester also added Nigeria international Ahmed Musa, who scored 15 goals in all competitions for CSKA Moscow last season and showed plenty of pace in his appearance off the bench in Sundays 2-1 loss to FA Cup winners Manchester United at Wembley Stadium and scored twice in the loss to Barcelona. Still, Musa likely will start the season behind Shinji Okazaki on the striker depth chart but will have a chance to make his mark as the Foxes juggle domestic and continental commitments.Vardy scored Leicesters goal at Wembley, showing no signs of resting on the laurels of his 24-goal season in 2015-16 and being one of the few bright spots in Englands disastrous European Championship campaign this summer. While disappointed with the loss to United, newcomer Luis Hernandez thinks the team can use the defeat as incentive to start the season with three points.I think it is important that we have the hurt in the next game Saturday, said Hernandez, who came over on a free transfer from Spains Sporting de Gijon, to LCFC TV. I think it is important to start the season well after last season. I hope we can play well and get the win.I thought the team played a good game and we showed that again this season we can compete with the Premier Leagues big clubs.No one, though, will confuse the Hull City Tigers with one of those big clubs, and they will be hard-pressed to become the first team in the Premier League era to open the season with a victory over the reigning champions and end a 23-match winless squad among those sides (0-4-19). Hull City are back in the top flight after fighting their way to promotion via playoff following their fourth-place finish in the Championship.But there is plenty of drama surrounding the Tigers. Steve Bruce -- the most successful manager in the clubs history -- shockingly resigned last month after the team failed to help itself in the summer transfer window as his relationship with vice-chairman Ehab Allam deteriorated beyond saving.Mohamed Diame, who scored the goal that secured Hulls promotion, opted to leave for Championship side Newcastle United in belief the Magpies will win promotion while the Tigers get relegated for the second time in three seasons. That sentiment has been echoed by oddsmakers, who have made Hull the most likely candidate to finish in the bottom three.The Allam family, who have few supporters among the fan base, is reportedly in negotiations to sell the team, but has yet to finalise any deal with a potential buyer. Caretaker manager Mike Phelan is trying to limit the distractions, but even he doesnt have a deal beyond Saturdays match against the reigning champs.Weve done some homework on Leicester but they are what they are -- theyre the Champions of the Premier League, Phelan told the teams official website after Hull wrapped up their preseason with a 2-1 loss to Italian side Torino in Austria. But were going into this having earned the right to be in the Premier League and we shouldnt forget the work that was put in last season to get there.Both teams came through their respective preseason schedules unscathed with respect to injuries and should field their first-choice starting XIs.The teams last met in the Premier League during the 2014-15 season, when Leicester City took four of a possible six points. Mahrez accounted for the match-winner in a 1-0 victory at KC Stadium before the teams played to a scoreless draw in the return encounter.Cheap Nike Shoes Authentic . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. Cheap Nike Shoes . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. https://www.wholesalenikeshoesauthentic.com/ . Isner, ranked No. 14, won his eighth career singles title and took the title in New Zealand for the second time after his victory in 2010. The match was similar to Isners quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber which went to three sets, all tiebreaks and contained no breaks of serve. Nike Shoes Sale . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. Cheap Nike Shoes For Sale . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.A controversy has arisen over marathon runner OP Jaishas statements following the event in Rio. Jaisha, who had to be admitted to hospital after the event, says she was dehydrated because Indian officials did not organize her water and energy drinks during the race. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has, in response, said both the athlete and her coach - and the other runner, Kavita Raut - had, when asked a day before the event, declined any personal drinks.Jaisha had collapsed at the finish line after completing the marathon and had to be rushed to a hospital where her coach Nikolai Snesarev got into an altercation with one of the doctors and ended up being detained for half a day by the local police. She finished 89th in the event with a below-par timing of 2:47:19.On returning to India, she said that she was not provided any water and energy drinks by the officials even though designated stations were allotted to India. I could have died there, Jaisha told ANI.It was very hot there. The competition was at 9am, I ran in scorching heat. There was no water for us, neither recovery drinks nor food. Only once in 8kms did we get water (from the Rio organisers) which did not help at all. All the countries had their stalls at every 2kms but our countrys stall was empty, Jaisha said.We are supposed to be given drinks by our technical officials. We cannot take water from any other team. I saw the Indian board there but there was nothing. I fainted after the race and was administered glucose. I thought I would die, Jaisha said.My coach was very angry and he ended up arguing with the doctors. He thought I was dead. He pushed the doctor to enter my room because he knew he would be held responsible if anything happened to me.The runner claimed that she got no response from officials when she asked why water was not provided to her at the stalls. II asked officials why there was no water for us but I got no response.dddddddddddd I dont know where they were or what they were doing. I was in a very bad shape, she said.However, the AFI gave a distinctly different version of events. A day before the marathon, we asked both Jaisha and her coach whether personal drinks would be needed and they declined, AFI secretary CK Valson told ESPN. We are not supposed to give water in any case; if we do, the athlete will get disqualified. They are supposed to pick it up from the table or take it from the volunteers.We did not have refreshment stations for the simple reason that they themselves said they wouldnt need personal drinks. If they wanted we could have easily provided them with refreshments.In a separate statement, the AFI explained the protocol in detail. Each team is allowed to keep their own personalised drinks on the booths, marked in a colour as per the choice of the team and athlete. Accordingly, as per the rule, on the night ahead of womens marathon race, the Indian team manager carried 16 empty bottles, eight each for Jaisha and Kavita Raut and visited the duo and their coach Nikolai Snesarev in their room, the statement said.The team manager asked them to provide their choice of personalised drink which would then be sealed in their presence and handed over to the organisers for installing them on the booth along with a placard as per the requirement of the athlete. Ms Jaisha and Ms Raut declined the offer and informed the Indian team manager that they didnt require personalised drink, and if at all they required it during the race, they would use the drinks available at the water booth and refreshment booth provided by the organisers, the statement said. ' ' '