Leicester City relegated amid miserable season

Leicester City were relegated from the Premier League on Sunday, confirming what has long looked like an inevitability amid a miserable campaign.

The Foxes' 1-0 loss to Liverpool officially sent them straight back down to the Championship after only one season.

Leicester, authors of a miraculous title triumph less than a decade ago, dug themselves an early hole this season and never recovered. They won the second-tier Championship last year to earn automatic promotion back to the top flight, but problems began to emerge almost immediately from there.

Steve Cooper replaced Enzo Maresca as manager after the Italian's departure for Chelsea last summer. An unpopular hire with the Leicester fans due to his ties with rivals Nottingham Forest, Cooper lasted only 12 games on the bench. He was fired in November with the club sitting 17th and two points above the relegation zone after winning just two matches.

His replacement, Ruud van Nistelrooy, hasn't fared any better.

Leicester have lost 17 of their 21 league matches since appointing the Dutchman to replace Cooper, winning only twice in that span. Last week's 2-2 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion was the club's first point since January.

Ipswich Town, promoted to the Premier League this season along with Southampton and Leicester, are all but guaranteed of also making a swift return to the second tier.

Their impending relegation would signal the second consecutive Premier League season in which all three promoted sides drop immediately back down to the Championship.

"I think you see among the promoted sides it's such a mountain to climb to stay in the Premier League," Van Nistelrooy said afterward.