2022-23 Premier League: Week Four – Chelsea vs Leicester

Chelsea and Leicester meet at Stamford Bridge as both teams look to bounce back from defeats.

Victory could see Chelsea go as high as sixth depending on results elsewhere, whilst a win would lift Leicester out of the relegation zone.

 

Team News

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Kalidou Koulibaly is suspended for Chelsea after he was red carded in their defeat at Leeds last weekend.

Armando Broja (personal) could return but Mateo Kovacic (knee), N’Golo Kante (hamstring) and Marcos Alonso (personal) remain absent.

Leicester manager – Brendan Rogers could recall up to ten players after only Harvey Barnes started their midweek Carabao Cup win at Stockport County from the team which lost to Southampton last weekend,

Jamie Vardy, Wilfried Ndidi, Jonny Evans and Danny Ward consequently are amongst players looking for a start here, whilst James Maddison is a doubt after he suffered a knock in training.

Wesley Fofana (personal), Ricardo Pereira (Achilles) and Ryan Bertrand (knee) remain absent.

 

Stat Attack

• Chelsea have lost just one of their last seven league meetings against Leicester (W2, D4, L1).
• Leicester have won just one of their last eight visits to Stamford Bridge (W1, D4, L3).
• Chelsea have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last four home matches against Leicester, during which they scored and conceded four goals apiece.
• Two of Chelsea’s three goals so far this season have been scored by defenders – Koulibaly and Reece James.
• Leicester have conceded in each of their last six league matches (W2, D2, L2).

 

Prediction

Having simply lacked the clinical edge to beat Leeds last weekend, Chelsea hopefully have focused on their finishing because their attacking quality otherwise was excellent, especially compared to their defence which was scrappy with poor marking and goalkeeping which didn’t help matters.

Leicester meanwhile were much-changed in their midweek win at Stockport County but it cannot be ignored how wasteful and sluggish their refreshed attack were despite their dominance, so I do expect to see a better display with players like James Maddison and Vardy back in the starting line-up.

Thomas Tuchel’s Blues however are missing Kante and Kovacic in midfield which are huge losses that Leicester should look to exploit if they play like Leeds did in terms of press and finishing, yet Leicester’s defence is definitely vulnerable so a draw might be a fair result.

Prediction: Chelsea 1-1 Leicester

Result: Chelsea 2-1 Leicester