With both Chelsea and Leicester City making underwhelming starts to the 2022/23 Premier League season, it will be interesting to see who comes out on top in this encounter at the Stamford Bridge in London on Saturday afternoon.
In their opening three matches, Thomas Tuchel’s side have collected just four points and they’ve racked up all three possible results – win, draw, and loss – already into the early stages of the season. Meanwhile, the Foxes have been able to take just one point from a possible nine and need to open their account with a win. Cheslea are 12th in the Premier League standings while Leicester City are currently down in 19th.
Heading into the battle between Chelsea and Leicester City, a large segment of the build-up has concerned young defender Wesley Fofana who is the subject of some heavy interest from the London-based side. However, all of Chelsea’s attempts to swoop him up have been met with rejection but they haven’t given up yet.
It is said that the Blues are preparing one final mega offer of over £70 million to bring him to the Stamford Bridge heading into the final week of the transfer window. Chelsea are doubly desperate given their lack of shortage in the centre-back department and the fact that their efforts to bring in Jules Kounde to the club had gone to waste with the Frenchman choosing Barcelona instead.
Nevertheless, both sides will try to drown out as much noise surrounding Fofana as possible and head into the contest on Saturday afternoon and given the indifferent start that both clubs have made to the season, the agenda will be to secure all three points.
As far as the 2021 Champions League winners are concerned, everything was heading in the right direction for Thomas Tuchel’s side following their 1-0 win over Frank Lampard’s Everton. They were also leading against Tottenham Hotspur deep into added time in the London derby.
However, Chelsea failed to anticipate what would arrive next. A last gasp equaliser from Harry Kane left them shell-shocked in the sixth minute of added time. Controversial refereeing decisions as well as scuffle between coaches Tuchel and Antonio Conte also occupied much of the post-match discussions.
It’s no wonder that those apprehensions played on the minds of the players as well as the staff as Chelsea had no answers to the multiple questions asked by Leeds United away from home last season. They suffered a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of the Yorkshire-based side with Brendon Aaronson, Rodrigo Moreno, and Jack Harrison finding the back of the net.
To make matters worse, new summer signing Kalidou Koulibaly saw his marching orders in the 84th minute and will not be available for this clash, leaving Chelsea short-staffed at the back.
Although Tuchel will likely be able to count on three more players with Chelsea continuing their frantic activities in the transfer market before the end of the deadline day, the current squad feels very much like a team in transition.
Following the departures of Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner, they are yet to find a proper goal-scoring solution while mistakes and lack of resources at the back got heavily exposed by Tottenham and Leeds United over the last two weekends.
Injuries in midfield have also been a problem for the side but that cannot be used as an excuse for players like Kai Havertz and Mason Mount looking largely ineffective in the final third of the pitch. Only Raheem Sterling has been playing at a high level as far as the frontline and Tuchel will have massive issues to address if he doesn’t get the signings he needs before the transfer window shuts this summer.
As far as Leicester City are concerned, they have been heavily reliant on midfield stalwart James Maddison, who has found the back of the net in each of the matches against Brentford, Arsenal and Southampton to begin the season on a wonderful note.
However, despite Maddison’s obvious brilliance, the Foxes have only one point to show for their efforts so far in the league as they have conceded goals aplenty. That point arrived in the opening weekend draw against Brentford at the King Power Stadium.
Even the draw was a disappointing result to soak in given that Leicester City had gone into the break with a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Timothy Castagne and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. However, Brentford came back roaring in the second half through Ivan Toneyand Josh Dasilva and rescued a point off the Foxes.
They then suffered a disappointing and bitter 4-2 loss at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal with Gabriel Jesus grabbing a brace and Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Martinelli also getting on the scoresheet. The following encounter also saw Southampton coming back from a goal down to win 2-1 thanks to a brace from Che Adams in the second half.
Brendan Rodgers has had to see his side concede eight goals in three matches and that leakiness in defence threatens to undermine all of the good work that Leicester manage to accomplish while building up in midfield and while attacking in the final third of the pitch. Although they have been effective up front, they won’t be going anywhere without addressing the issues at the back.
The Foxes are currently 19th in the Premier League table and will be desperate to climb upwards in order to avoid getting dragged into a possible relegation battle as the season rages on. The Wesley Fofana situation also needs to be addressed even if it means accepting a marginally lower fee for the defender.
The worst thing that can happen to them at this point is if they lose Fofana dangerously close to the deadline day and fail to find a suitable replacement for him which aggravates their already glaring issues in defence.
CHE vs LEI, Premier League 2022/23
Date: 27th August, 2022
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Stamford Bridge, London
FORM GUIDE:
Chelsea Premier League form:
- W-D-L
Chelsea Premier League form (all competitions):
- W-D-L
Leicester City Premier League form:
- D-L-L
Leicester City Premier League form (all competitions):
- D-L-L-D
HEAD-TO-HEAD:
Chelsea wins: 59
Draws: 35
Leicester City wins: 28
TEAM NEWS:
Chelsea Team News:
Chelsea are expected to continue missing the services of Mateo Kovacic who is still on the road to recovery following his knee issue. N’Golo Kante has also been sidelined for this clash following his hamstring injury.
Kalidou Koulibaly will not be available for selection after receiving a one-match ban following his late red card against Leeds United. This could lead to Marc Cucurella dropping to form a back three and Ben Chilwell starting at his usual left-back slot against his former club.
Ruben Loftus Cheek may also get the nod ahead of Conor Gallagher in central midfield. Despite being off form, Havertz may retain his place in attack ahead of Armando Broja, who is likely to feature in the squad after the injury.
Leicester City Team News:
Addressing the elephant in the room, Wesley Fofana will remain out of contention as far as Leicester City are concerned. Head coach Brendan Rodgers will also have to take a call on midfield star Youri Tielemans who continues to ponder about a departure.
The Belgian may be recalled to the squad in order to replace the in-form James Maddison, who Rodgers says, ‘felt like a twinge’ in training on Wednesday. Harvey Barnes is also expected to receive the nod from the word go after coming through 90 minutes against Stockport County in the midweek fixture and on the back of a knee injury.
If the Leicester boss does end up switching to a back three, Turkish central defender Caglar Soyuncu may return to the starting XI which could force Ayoze Perez out of the starting lineup.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Mendy; Azpilicueta, Silva, Cucurella; James, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Chilwell; Mount, Sterling; Havertz
Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Ward; Castagne, Amartey, Evans, Justin; Ndidi, Dewsbury-Hall; Perez, Maddison, Barnes; Vardy
Predictions:
Under ordinary circumstances, a Chelsea victory would’ve been the most likely scenario here. However, Chelsea are missing a number of key players and have struggled to get off the blocks so far this season. They will have to start with a makeshift backline in this clash and they are prone to getting caught on the counter and in transition as was evident from the hammering against Leeds United.
Meanwhile, Leicester City have also had their fair share of defensive issues and have leaked goals aplenty. It remains to be seen whether Brendan Rodgers does shake things up formation wise in order to provide more security to the backline.
Everything said and done, a draw seems to be the most likely scenario when these two sides clash at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon.
