Chelsea face-off against Leicester City as the two teams kick-start this weekend’s Premier League action after an unwelcome International break. Leicester dethroned Chelsea from the pedestal last season and in the process scripted one of the best fairytales of the sport. It will be interesting to see whether Chelsea can exact revenge for last year.
But this time, things will be much more difficult for the Foxes who nicked 4 points off Chelsea last season. Leicester have been jittery at times this season and are showing expected difficulty in turning up for matches immediately after their European commitments.
On the other hand, Chelsea have their own issues to deal with as their defence has been extremely nervy thus far and Conte is yet to zero in on his best formation.
Although the early kick-off promises to be entertaining, we at T4O decided to take a look at how a combined XI with the players of these two teams would look like.
T4O’s COMBINED CHELSEA AND LEICESTER CITY LINE-UP (4-4-2)
DEFENCE
Although Thibaut Courtois has been far from the world class keeper he was expected to develop into, between the two teams he is still the best bet for a clean sheet. Cesar Azpilicueta is our right back with his consistent performances over a couple of seasons ensuring his place. The central defence looks to be tricky with John Terry a certainty being a modern Premier League legend, the best bet as his partner would be Wes Morgan. Christian Fuchs will be at left-back with Azpilicueta being selected at right-back.
MIDFIELD
The central midfield has a very Foxy feel to it with Ex-Leicester man N’Golo Kanté an obvious choice. Alongside him will be his former hunting partner Danny Drinkwater. The amount of running and energy between this pair is something Leicester reaped the full benefits of last season.
Matic hasn’t yet found his form from a couple of seasons back but is slowly getting into the groove. On the left side of attacking-midfield, we have Eden Hazard who is the obvious choice although he would like to step up his level of consistency a notch higher. And on the right-side we have Riyad Mahrez will his bagful of tricks and invention which brings a formidable and balanced look to the midfield.
ATTACK
Diego Costa will get into many a Premier League team on current form and it is no surprise to see his name on our combined line-up. His unconventional methods might not catch everyone’s fancy but his effectiveness is undeniable. Alongside him, we are going with Slimani with Jamie Vardy failing to get going this season, at least until now.
MANAGER- CLAUDIO RANIERI (!)
