Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet believes that Leicester City's struggles this season are down to the players not being able to deal with the "mental aspect" of winning a title.
With the club sitting just one point and one position above the relegation zone, Leicester sensationally sacked manager Claudio Ranieri this week, nine months after he guided the Foxes to their epic Premier League triumph.
Mignolet, who was on the receiving end of a Jamie Vardy wonder-goal last season when Leicester confirmed their title credentials, says that the distraction of the Champions League could have played a big part in how this campaign has turned sour.
"Every season is different, and you know the competition in the Premier League is so hard from top to bottom," Mignolet told the Telegraph.
"After they won the title, I guess when they went into the new season, they were thinking: 'How is this season going to go?'
"It was difficult to say, because they've got more games to play, they've got the Champions League. Maybe their focus is more on that because they've never been in that situation before.
"Their mood is still confident, but there's always this fine margin between being confident and being overconfident, or putting your mind on something else other than what you actually should do."
The keeper added that a lack of momentum, rather than application, was key to Leicester woes.
"If you then start losing games, you wonder: 'What's happening here? Last year, everything went for us, and now nothing's going for us," Mignolet said.
"It's some sort of mental aspect that comes into the game as well, where you start thinking: 'Oh no, not again. This is happening again.'
"And then you're getting a snowball effect."
Mignolet's Liverpool heads to the King Power Stadium on Monday night to face a Leicester side still without a manager, although former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has been heavily linked to the role.