Chelsea v Leicester Preview – By Simon Mack

Chelsea vs Leicester

Sunday 18^th August 2019

Stamford Bridge 16:30

The foxes commence their Premier League travels this weekend with a journey south to West London and a clash against Chelsea.

For the blues new gaffer Frank Lampard this will be his first Premier League tie at home as their manager, but the surroundings for the club’s all-time top scorer will be very familiar, and he is sure to get a warm welcome from the home faithful.

Chelsea got their league campaign underway last weekend with a trip to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United and returned to London with their tail between their legs having been soundly beaten 4-0. Mid-week their ‘Super Cup’ outing against Champions League victors Liverpool looked more hopeful, and the contrast in team selections (with a more experienced side being deployed in favour of the youth that lost in their trip to play the red devils) will make for an interesting dilemma for the Chelsea legend this weekend.

Blues defender Andreas Christensen limped out of the deafeat by Liverpool and will need to pass a fitness test to be available for this one, but Antonio Rudiger and Willian are both close to fitness and could return this weekend. Chelsea’s only notable omissions will be Callum Hudson-Odoi who remains on the sidelines with an achillies injury and Ruben Loftus–Cheek who’s suffering a similar affliction.

For the foxes this trip provides another chance to sharpen their attacking pencil against a side finding their way under their new boss.

Last week’s scoreless match against Wolves showed that Leicester have a solid defensive base to build upon, but in the final third matters became more disjointed, and whilst the masses of players in gold flooding the midfield made for a stifling affair this time out the foxes will want to show their creative skills and attacking prowess has more potency and can create clear cut chances to trouble the scorer.

Leicester’s only notable injury remains Filip Benkovic who is still sidelined with an ankle injury and as such City Manager Brendan Rodger’s dilemmas will be more along tactical rather than personnel lines.

Deadline day signing Dennis Praet has had a week to acclimatise to his new surroundings and it will be intriguing to see if the foxes boss hands him a debut or sticks with the side that drew last week.

The foxes performance against wolves last time out was noted in the media for its high levels of possession, passing and ground covered, and this is a growing contrast in Leicester’s style under Rodgers. Had city won last week it would have been a case of ‘death by pass’ but on their travels it will be trickier for Leicester to retain the ball in the same manner, and an alternative tactical strategy might be required.

Jamie Vardy painted a frustrated figure last time out as the chances to get at the Wolves back line were few and far between for him, and he’ll be hoping for more supply this time out in order to threaten the Chelsea goal and get city onto the score sheet and underway in this campaign.

A few of the foxes young stars looked like they still had some match sharpness to obtain in their first outing, and it will be interesting to see if this time out they look back closer to their peak form.

The bookies have Chelsea as odds on favourites for this one, with a foxes victory earning you 4-1 if you fancy a flutter. The pundits also predict Frank Lampard’s first home match as gaffer will end in a narrow victory for his side.

How you can catch the match: Live on Sky Sports / Commentary of BBC Radio 5 Live & BBC Radio Leicester

Likely Starting Lineups:

Chelsea’s predicted starting XI: Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Christensen, Emerson; Jorginho, Kante; Pedro, Mount, Pulisic; Giroud.

Leicester City’s predicted starting XI: Schmeichel; Pereira, Soyuncu, Evans, Chilwell; Ndidi; Perez, Tielemans, Choudhury, Maddison; Vardy.