It's certainly not easy being a Liverpool fan, especially in 2017. The Reds travelled to the King Power stadium last night to tackle a Leicester City side who were yet to find the net this calendar year in the Premier League and promptly conceded three goals.

Coming away with a 3-1 defeat that may have drastic consequences on the club's push for a Champions League finish, as arch-rivals Manchester United can move two-points ahead of them by winning their game in hand- whilst Arsenal and Manchester City could extend their advantage by four and six points respectively.

Leicester, meanwhile, rise out of the bottom three after dropping into the relegation spots at the weekend and should now have a major morale boost ahead of the final games of the season, with the early signs of the post-Ranieri era looking positive.

There was many talking points in the match and a lot to discuss, including these five crucial things that we learned.

Vardy is back

Whisper it, but it seems Jamie Vardy is back to his best. The former non-league ace looked to be throwing it back to his old days as a semi-pro during the majority of the season but has responded valiantly, netting a crucial away goal against Sevilla in the Champions League last week before putting Liverpool to the sword last night.

Vardy's brace saw the Englishman return to the player that tore apart the Premier League last season, as he used his pace to find a way through the Liverpool defence and, ultimately, secure a massive three points for last season's champions.

Whether he can keep it up remains to be seen but if he can score against Sevilla and Liverpool, then he'll surely be confident ahead of upcoming matches against Hull, West Ham, Stoke and Sunderland.

Liverpool's 2017 woes continue

Liverpool seemed to have made great progress in 2016 under Jurgen Klopp, finishing runners-up in both the League Cup and Europa League, but 2017 has been a disaster so far- with the Reds having won just two of 12 games.

One of those matches, incidentally, was an unconvincing 1-0 win over League Two Plymouth Argyle in an FA Cup replay and the Reds have suffered a handful of humiliating defeats already this year- including being knocked out of the FA Cup by Wolves.

Liverpool's downfall has been lesser sides

Speaking of humiliating defeats, Liverpool have been the masters of it this season. The Reds have lost five games in the Premier League this season- all of which have been against sides sat in the bottom-half of the table.

Liverpool's early-season defeat at the hands of Burnley certainly wasn't a blip as they threw away a comfortable lead against Bournemouth at the back-end of last year, before things took a huge turn for the worse in 2017- with the Reds losing to Swansea, Hull and Leicester.

Had they won those favourable matches, they'd be sat top of the table. It may be easy to say that but the fact they've remained undefeated against side in the top-half but have lost to half the teams in the bottom-half of the standings says it all.

Leicester speculation continues

Leicester City's decision to axe Claudio Ranieri last week was met with wide criticism from fans and the media, with fingers then pointed to suggest that senior players had gone behind the Italian's back to force him out- which they deny.

Whether that's true or not remains to be seen but the player's looked far better last night than they had done all season, with the showing from the first whistle being significantly better. What does that say about the player's attitude under Ranieri? That's for you to decide.

Major impact at both ends of the table

Leicester's victory over Liverpool has shaken up the bottom of the Premier League table once again, whilst there's the chance it could also play a major part in the race for a top-four finish and Champions League football next season.

As mentioned, Liverpool will slip to sixth in the table if Manchester United win their game in hand against Manchester City, whilst their deficit to the Citizens will be extended if Pep Guardiola's side emerge triumphant. On top of that, Arsenal could also pull further ahead.

Meanwhile at the bottom, Leicester have risen to 15th and Crystal Palace have slipped into the bottom three. Just five points separate the Foxes from rock-bottom, so there's still everything to play for.