Chelsea vs Leicester is up next for the Blues on Thursday. Meanwhile, Chelsea have officially qualified for next season’s UEFA Champions League, followed by Newcastle’s 2-0 victory over Arsenal yesterday. Of course, it’s been a long journey for the Blues this campaign, despite everything that happened at the club.
The West London club won the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. Also, almost reached the UCL semi-final, and made it to the Carabao and FA Cup finals.
Without being sentimental, the Thomas Tuchel’s side survived their hard times. Frankly, no team will go through all that and remain the same, as it’s completely impossible. As a result, the German manager deserves some accolades for everything he achieved at the club in 2021-2022.
Chelsea vs Leicester
The Blues will continue their Premier League fixtures for the 2021-2022 on Thursday at Stamford Bridge. They will be clashing against Leicester City, even though they have already qualified for the 2022-2023 UEFA Champions League.
The Foxes always face Chelsea with a high level of winning spirit, which means they won’t hold back in attacking the Thomas Tuchel’s men. Regardless, the West London club are expected to win the game.
Chelsea vs Leicester: All You Need To Know Ahead Of The Match
1. Big Day For Saul NÃguez And Kennedy
The Brazilian player has just played 2 games for Chelsea, since he came back from loan. At the same time, the Spanish midfielder has just played 11 games since the beginning of the year.
Meanwhile, they are both expected to start against Leicester City tomorrow, because the Blues have already qualified for next season’s UCL. Saul will likely play as a midfielder, possibly alongside Ruben Loftus-Cheek, while Kenedy will play as a left wing-back.
2. Leicester City Are Unbeaten In Their Last Two Games
The Foxes have scored 8 goals in their last two matches, with a 5-1 victory over Watford and a 3-0 victory over Norwich City. As a result, Leicester City will want to win against Chelsea, particularly when the Blues aren’t expected to start their usual players.
Chelsea vs Leicester will be very interesting, because the West London club defeated the Foxes last year. So, they may want to avenge their 3-0 loss to the Thomas Tuchel’s men in 2021.
3. Chelsea’s Poor Display At Stamford Bridge
The Thomas Tuchel’s men have been awful in their performances at Stamford Bridge this year, having lost 4-1 to Brentford and 3-1 to Real Madrid. Therefore, the Blues may continue their Premier League struggle at home this season.
As a result, Leicester City could be the latest team to humiliate Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this campaign. Of course, the Foxes were fantastic against the Hornets and the Canaries, so Chelsea would have to sit tight to avoid another defeat at home.
4. Unavailable Players For Leicester City
Apparently, it might be a long 90 minutes for the Foxes, as they will be missing some first-team players. The likes of Ryan Bertrand (knee injury), Wilfried Ndidi (knee injury) and Ricardo Pereira (injury) are all unavailable against Chelsea.
So, Brendan Rodgers is expected to continue with his usual starting XI, especially the one he used against Watford or Norwich. Wilfried Ndidi is obviously very important to Leicester City’s midfield. However, he’s unavailable on Thursday at Stamford Bridge. So, Nampalys Mendy is predicted to continue as a single defensive midfielder.
5. Stuart Attwell Confirmed As Referee
The English referee always favours Chelsea, which means the Foxes may lose tomorrow. Since the 2019-2020 season, the West London club have had 6 draws, 3 wins and 2 defeats in the Premier League games with Stuart Attwell on the pitch.
Apparently, the Blues have a very slim chance of losing at Stamford Bridge, because Stuart Attwell is the referee. In his officiating, the Englishman always does justice. So, Chelsea vs Leicester is expected to be referee error free on Thursday.
6. Unavailable Players For Chelsea
The Blues will be clashing against Leicester City at Stamford Bridge, without Kai Havertz (hamstring injury), Ben Chilwell (knee injury) and Callum Hudson-Odoi (achilles tendon injury). Nevertheless, the West London club have enough reinforcements to face the Foxes.
Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ben Chilwell have already started training with the first-team. However, it’s most unlikely to see them playing on Thursday, because Thomas Tuchel wouldn’t want to take the risk, especially when they have already qualified for the UEFA Champions League.
7. Possible Leicester City Starting XI
The Foxes were very offensive against Norwich City, as regards their 3-0 victory over the Canaries. So Brendan Rodgers is expected to start with the same XI in order to be able to subdue the Blues.
Of course, it will be a formation of 4-2-3-1 for the Foxes to be able to handle Kante, Kovacic and Jorginho. Leicester City need the 3 points more than the Thomas Tuchel’s men. So, they will do everything to secure a victory.
Leicester City Predicted XI: Schmeichel; Justin, Evans, Amartey, Castagne; Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall; Lookman, Maddison, Barnes; Vardy.
8. Key Players To Watch
Jamie Vardy – Leicester City
The English forward has literally regained his form. He was amazing in his last two games. Vardy scored 4 goals in their recent wins over Watford and Norwich. So, Jamie is a key player to watch out for at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, because he would want to continue his goal-scoring form.
Romelu Lukaku – Chelsea
The Belgian mastero registered 3 goals in his last three games for the Blues. He scored a brace against Wolverhampton and one goal against Leeds United. So, in the absence of Kai Havertz, Lukaku is expected to start on Thursday. And, he should be able to drag Leicester City’s defenders, particularly when he’s currently in form.
9. Predicted Chelsea Starting XI
The Blues have already qualified for next season’s UEFA Champions League, which means they are most likely to play their youngsters against the Foxes. So, the Chelsea vs Leicester game may be an avenue for Thomas Tuchel to rest some players.
Meanwhile, the clash will be played at Stamford Bridge. Therefore, Chelsea wouldn’t want to lose another match at home. As a result, the starting XI may be a mixture of both senior and young players.
Chelsea Predicted XI: Arrizabalaga; Sarr, Chalobah, Hall; Kenedy, James; Saul, Loftus-Cheek; Ziyech, Lukaku, Werner.
10. Kick-off Time
Chelsea vs Leicester will be played at Stamford Bridge, exactly 8 o’clock in the evening. Of course, the Thomas Tuchel’s men faced Liverpool at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. So, four days is enough for the Blues to rest ahead of the game on Thursday.