The table-toppers Chelsea visit the King Power Stadium on Saturday when they face Leicester City in this weekend’s early kick-off. The Blues are three points clear at the top of the table even after dropping two crucial points against Burnley at home going into the international break. Leicester City have had a strange start to the season as they find themselves twelfth in the table with only 4 wins out of 11. Chelsea have always been a difficult opponent for the Foxes and they would hope for something similar like the FA Cup final when the Foxes beat them 1-0 to lift the cup.
Thomas Tuchel’s men will be desperate to take all three points from the game as they look to increase the gap from the chasing pack. Chelsea are currently unbeaten in their last five league games and they would hope to continue the run this weekend. The Blues were left frustrated at home the last gameweek when Matej Vydra scored a 79th minute equaliser to earn a point for Burnley. Tuchel would like his side to be more clinical this time around in order to clinch all three points this weekend.
Leicester City were held to a draw by Leeds United last gameweek after Harvey Barnes cancelled out Raphinha’s strike. Brendan Rodgers’s men will be desperate to pick up a big result after having endured some poor form prior to the international break. The Foxes would hope to put a dent towards Chelsea’s ambition of building a clear gap at the top of the table.
Talking Tactics
Brendan Rodgers will opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation with Maddison in the number 10 role. Jamie Vardy will play as a sole striker with support from Harvey Barnes and Ademola Lookman from the wings. The midfield will see Ndidi and summer signing Soumare pair up together to give defensive solidity to the team. Rodgers would not hope to see a lot of the ball on Saturday but would demand from his team to hit Chelsea on the counter with pace.
Thomas Tuchel will go into the game with a 3-4-2-1 formation with Kai Havertz up top being supported by Mason Mount and Callum Hudson-Odoi. Chilwell and James will be making the pitch wider with their overlapping runs as Chelsea would like to use their wingbacks for chance creation. The midfield pair of Jorginho and Kante will be the key to their possession based attacking gameplay.
Team News
Chelsea will be without the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner upfront who are yet to fully recover from the injuries they sustained. Thiago Silva is out for the game due to personal reasons and Mateo Kovacic will probably not be fully ready as he is recovering from his injury.
Leicester City will miss Youri Tielemans who suffered a calf injury. The defence will have a few absentees with the likes of James Justin, Ryan Bertrand and Wesley Fofana all out injured.
Leicester City Predicted XI
Kasper Schmeichel; Ricardo Pereira, Caglar Soyuncu, Jonny Evans, Timothy Castagne; Wilfried Ndidi, Boubakary Soumare; Ademola Lookman, James Maddison, Harvey Barnes; Jamie Vardy
Chelsea Predicted XI
Edouard Mendy; Trevoh Chalobah, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger; Reece James, N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, Ben Chilwell; Callum Hudson-Odoi, Mason Mount; Kai Havertz
Streaming
Watch Leicester City vs Chelsea live on Sky Sports Premier League from 11.30am on Saturday; kick-off at 12.30pm.
