Chelsea welcome Leicester City to the Bridge for another Sunday game, kicking off at 4:30pm. Frank Lampard has started his managerial career at Chelsea with two losses, but there were plenty of positives to take from the game against Liverpool, and now our boys must take that into this game and get a crucial three points.
Our Form: ( – – – L L)
It was never going to be an easy start for Lampard, with Manchester United away in the first Premier League game of the season, following a summer of having no new signings. It feels as if he is learning more from his Chelsea side with every passing game, and the team improved significantly in the European Super Cup this past Wednesday. We were the underdogs for the game, but outplayed Liverpool in the first half, and came closest to winning in the 90 minutes.
It was a cruel way to lose, with Tammy Abraham missing the decisive penalty in the shoot-out, but we can hold our heads high. Performances from Jorginho, Pulisic and man-of-the-match N’Golo Kante were the real highlights, as showed we have a lot of top-class players at this club. Two defeats so far, but we must end the week on a win.
Our Opponent’s Form: (- – – – D)
Leicester’s only competitive game this season saw them open up their Premier League campaign with a 0-0 draw at home to Wolves. Both sides will target a top seven finish (or maybe more), this season, so it came as no surprise that they cancelled each other out. Brendan Rodgers will try to implement his philosophy more on his team, and has a talented crop of players at his disposal, with the likes of record signing Youri Tielemans and Wilfred Ndidi in midfield, and youngster James Maddison who has a bright future ahead of him.
Head to Head
Leicester have been a bit of a nuisance to us in recent years, with us only winning one in the last four meetings in all competitions. Prior to this little spell, we did have a dominant record over Leicester, winning four on the trot between 2016 and 2017. In last season’s meetings, Leicester had the better of us, as they beat us at Stamford Bridge – their first win at our home ground since 2000 – and also held us to a 0-0 draw on the final game of the season. It must be noted that Leicester have avoided defeat three times in their last four visits to Chelsea, and we have to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
Team News
Fikayo Tomori may step in for Andreas Christensen who picked up a knock on Wednesday night. Key defender Antonio Rudiger remains injured. The midfield will be unchanged from Wednesday night, but positions in attacking areas may change. Lampard has to choose whether he will play Olivier Giroud or Tammy Abraham up top, and also decide between Ross Barkley, Mason Mount or new signing Christian Pulisic.
Leicester couldn’t make a signing to replace Harry Maguire, but Brendan Rodgers seems to be happy to replace him with young Turkish international Çağlar Söyüncü who will keep his place after keeping a clean sheet in their match against Wolves. Leicester didn’t suffer any injuries so are likely to be completely unchanged.
Predictions
I don’t want Chelsea players to assume that just because we outplayed Liverpool for large portions of our game, that we will easily win at home to Leicester. I do think we’ll get a win here, but it will be narrow. Leicester will cause our shaky defence some issues, and we need to make sure we are not wasteful in front of goal. If we get the first goal, I anticipate us going on to win, but if we were to concede the first goal, it may be a long road back.
With the home support behind us, I hope we see this game out and register our first competitive win in the season. For goal scorers, I’d back Christian Pulisic to score on his home debut, with Olivier Giroud also getting in on the act. Come on you Blues!
Score Line Prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Leicester City