On Saturday afternoon (15:00), Chelsea and Leicester City will face off at Stamford Bridge. Both clubs have had inconsistent openings to the new Premier League season.
The clubs are currently ranked in positions 12 and 19, respectively, with the Blues having only accrued four points from their first three games and the Foxes have only managed one draw.
Wesley Fofana’s transfer controversy, in which Chelsea is aiming to sign the defender for at least £70 million, will unavoidably predominate the lead-up to this game.
However, given that they had only each won one game in their inaugural triple-header, both teams could do without the interruptions.
Chelsea vs Leicester: Head to Head;
Chelsea and Leicester have faced off 122 times in head-to-head competition, with Chelsea winning a stunning 59 times. In 35 games played against the Blues, Leicester has won 28, while 35 have ended in draws.
Team News:
From Chelsea’s perspective, everything was going well after a 1-0 victory at Everton and when they were leading Tottenham Hotspur in the London derby’s extra time.
Despite Thomas Tuchel’s assurances to the contrary, their defeat was warranted as Leeds United humiliated them 3-0 a week after Tottenham Hotspur scored a last-second equalizer.
Chelsea now feel very much in transition and have yet to find a solution to their goal-scoring problems, even though Tuchel will probably add another three players to his first-team roster over the coming week.
Even if they have been hampered by midfield injuries, Kai Havertz has failed to make an impact in the final third, where only Raheem Sterling has performed to the best of his ability.
On the other hand, James Maddison, who has scored in each of Leicester’s games against Brentford, Arsenal, and Southampton, has been their main source of offense.
However, eight goals have been given up at the other end, which poses a threat to everything Leicester produces moving forward as they attempt to climb out of the bottom half of the standings.
The East Midlands team must find a solution, even if it means accepting a little reduced amount for Fofana, to prevent a situation where Brendan Rodgers has rushed to find a suitable replacement in the transfer market.
Chelsea vs Leicester: Form
Chelsea won, drew, and lost in their last three Premier League games.
Leicester City drew, lost, and lost in their last three Premier League games.
Leicester City’s overall record is DLLD.
Fofana will continue to be ineligible for Leicester City games due to his desire to join Chelsea this summer.
Leicester’s Brendan Rodgers might play Youri Tielemans even though he is said to be pushing for an exit this summer.
Rodgers claims that Maddison “had a twinge” during training on Wednesday and that Tielemans might be called up in Maddison’s place.
After playing through a knee injury against Stockport County for 90 minutes in the middle of the week, Harvey Barnes could be able to hold onto his spot in the lineup.
Caglar Soyuncu will reenter the starting lineup if Rodgers moves to a back three, with Ayoze Perez likely to be the player to leave.
As for the Blues, Mateo Kovacic is still set to be missing for Chelsea as he works through a knee problem, and N’Golo Kante is out with a hamstring injury.
Ben Chilwell will likely start the match against his former team in place of Kalidou Koulibaly, who will serve a one-match suspension.
Marc Cucurella will presumably go to the back three.
Conor Gallagher could be replaced in central midfield by Ruben Loftus-Cheek, although Havertz is anticipated to keep his spot in attack ahead of Armando Broja, who is likely to make the team after injury.
Chelsea Probable Line ups:
Mendy, Azpilicueta, Silva, Cucurella; James, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Chilwell; Mount, Sterling; Havertz
Leicester City probable lineups:
Ward; Castagne; Amartey; Evans; Justin; Ndidi; Dewsbury-Hall; Perez; Maddison; Barnes; Vardy.
Prediction;
Normally, this would be seen as a match that Chelsea would likely win due to several factors.
We believe that an interesting share of the spoils will be played out in West London, despite the Blues lacking a defender and playing against a team that is eager to get back on track.
