Leicester City have a chance to jump in first-place in the Premier League when Frank Lampard’s wounded Blues travel to the King Power Stadium for the encounter.
The Foxes continued their winning start to 2021 with a win against Southampton in their last fixture. Che Adams had the first chance of the game in the 17th minute. Youngster Will Smallbone played the Saints forward through who skipped past Jonny Evans and forced a ball across the face of goal, but Wesley Fofana was in the right place at the right time.
Harvey Barnes forced Alex McCarthy into a vital save. Marc Albrighton passed the ball onto Jamie Vardy with the forward dummying the ball as it fell to Barnes with the Leicester player’s shot saved by McCarthy.
Adams had another chance to get the Saints ahead. Theo Walcott and Smallbone combined to tee up Southampton’s number ten. He shot and saw his effort palmed away by Kaspar Schmeichel.
The next chance bought the home side a goal and it was James Maddison that gave Leicester it. Youri Tielemans sent the Englishman off down the right channel. He then shot at McCarthy’s near post and saw his drilled effort go into the top right corner of the goal.
Southampton’s best chance to equalise came with 15 minutes left in the second half. Stuart Armstrong carved out some space on the edge of the Leicester’s box with the midfielder firing a wicked shot at goal which cannoned off of the crossbar.
Shane Long was there to latch onto a rebound but was bundled over by Jonny Evans. The referee looked to point to the spot but got a shout that the forward was offside and gave a free-kick in the Foxes favour.
Two minutes later, Jan Bednarek had to rescue his team from going two goals behind. Albrighton crossed the ball into Barnes with his shot cleared off the line by the Polish defender as the Saints stayed in touching distance.
The pressure that Leicester created finally amounted into a last-minute goal for Barnes to secure the east Midlands side all three points. Tielemans the creator once more played the Foxes’ no. 18 in as a cool right-footed finish from the forward secured him his tenth goal of the season.
Frank Lampard’s men lost three of their last three league matches in the run-up to their London derby match against Fulham at Craven Cottage.
The best chance of the first half for the Blues fell for Mason Mount. The midfielder received the ball after Ben Chilwell’s cross was headed away by Antonee Robinson as his shot from a tight angle rattled the crossbar.
Ivan Cavaleiro had a chance to give the Cottagers the lead. Kenny Tete played the ball into the path of the Portuguese forward who was in the box. His shot would have definitely beat Edouard Mendy but went over as Tete was furious with his forward as how he did not hit the target from there.
Fulham were down to ten men right before half-time just to make matters worse. Cavaliero lost possession with Robinson looking to win the ball back for his side. The American international flew into a challenge on Azpilicueta and completely missed the ball which saw himself dismissed with a straight red card.
With 12 minutes to go in the second half, the breakthrough was found and it was Mount that secured the lead for the Blues. Chilwell’s cross was punched away by Alphonse Areola only as far as Chelsea’s midfielder who was left unmarked in the middle and volleyed the ball beyond the French goalkeeper.
The Blues held onto their one-goal lead as they picked up their first three points in three matches as they looked to return back to the right path.
It won’t get much tougher for Chelsea with an in-form Leicester team in their path. One side is lacklustre with their players not in the form of their lives and sat in seventh in the Premier League and one is firing on all cylinders and currently sit third in the league.
The last time Leicester beat Chelsea at the King Power was back in December 2015, with the Foxes going onto win the Premier League that season.
Vardy gave the East Midlands side the lead in the 34th minute with Riyad Mahrez adding onto the forward’s goal in the second half to give them a two-goal lead.
Loic Remy scored to half the deficit for the away side but the Foxes held onto their lead as they were victorious over Jose Mourinho’s Blues.
This time around it looks to be a completely different match as Lampard’s men will try and keep up with the Foxes but the East Midlands side don’t have the best home record in the Premier League this season and Chelsea have a mediocre away record so it looks to be an exciting encounter.
Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt