Leicester and Chelsea set for lunch time heavyweight clash

Leicester and Chelsea meet in the Saturday lunch time kick off with both teams looking to continue their momentum towards a Champions League place.

The Foxes head into the game eight points clear of their rivals but with the disappointment of their League Cup semi final defeat by Aston Villa fresh in their mind. Their recent league form has been a little patchy too, with two defeats in their last three games against Southampton and Burnley respectively. They will be hoping they can put this behind them by beating Chelsea and continuing to pressurise Manchester City for second place.

The visitors have been on somewhat of a slump of their own having only won four of their last ten league matches. However, Chelsea have fared a lot better on the road than at home, with only Liverpool and Manchester City managing more away wins than them thus far.

Team news

Leicester are boosted by the return of Jamie Vardy who came through over half an hour unscathed in the League Cup Semi Final against Aston Villa on Tuesday. Wes Morgan misses out with illness whilst Nampalys Mendy and Daniel Amartey are long term absentees with knee and ankle injuries respectively.

For Chelsea, Tammy Abraham faces a late fitness test after training successfully this morning following the ankle injury he sustained against Arsenal. Reece James is also likely to return having missed the FA Cup fourth round victory over Hull City with a knee injury. However, the game comes too soon for both Christian Pulisic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

Home manager (Brendan Rodgers)

“It’s a game whether we won or lost (in the week) was going to be an exciting game.

“I think Frank’s done a fantastic job there. He’s showed great courage and bravery as a manager. He’s really given the belief to the young players, they’ve done very very well.”

Away manager (Frank Lampard)

On Leicester’s League Cup defeat: ‘It can go either way. It can inspire, or it can stay in the mind for a bit. We can’t assume either. We have to worry about ourselves.’

On his respect for Rodgers: ‘He stuck out through his knowledge and his thirst for knowledge. He was already learning different languages. He wanted to see how he could open up his thought process. It was clear he had that on the training pitch as well.’

Head-to-head

Leicester last beat Chelsea in the Premier League at the King Power Stadium in 2015; the same season they went on to lift the title. Three of the last four league matches have ended in draws with two of them being goalless affairs. Chelsea’s last league win over Leicester was way back in September 2017 when Antonio Conte was at the helm.