Team
news, key stats and ways to follow ahead of Leicester vs Chelsea on Saturday
(12.30pm)
Team news
Leicester striker Jamie Vardy is set to return to the starting line-up for
Saturday's Premier League clash with Chelsea at the King Power Stadium.
After sustaining a glute injury in last week's 4-1 home win over West Ham,
Vardy started on the bench for Tuesday's Carabao Cup semi-final second leg
defeat at Aston Villa, in which he came on as a 56th-minute sub. He has
since trained with no ill effects.
Brendan Rodgers goes into the game without Nampalys Mendy (knee) and Wes
Morgan (illness).
Tammy Abraham faces a late fitness test for Chelsea.
The England forward hobbled out of Chelsea's 2-2 league draw with Arsenal at
Stamford Bridge, then missed the FA Cup victory at Hull, but he trained on
Friday and could yet be fit to feature.
Opta stats
Leicester City are unbeaten in their last four Premier League games against
Chelsea (W1 D3), their best run since a run of five without defeat between
April 1999 and February 2001.
Chelsea have won five of their last seven Premier League away matches
against Leicester (D1 L1), with their only defeat in this run coming during
Leicester's title-winning season in December 2015.
No team has won more away Premier League games against Leicester at the King
Power Stadium than Chelsea (4, level with Liverpool and Spurs).
The home team has won none of the last six Premier League meetings between
Leicester and Chelsea (D3 L3), with the last home win coming in October 2016
when Chelsea won 3-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Leicester have lost two of their last three Premier League home games,
though they did win 4-1 against West Ham last time out. The Foxes had lost
just one of their previous 15 at the King Power Stadium (W11 D3).
From their first six away league games this season, Chelsea won 15 of a
possible 18 points (W5 D0 L1), scoring 18 goals in this run. In their last
six on the road, they've won 7/18 points (W2 D1 L3), while netting just
seven goals.
This will be Chelsea's 12th consecutive Premier League matchday starting the
day fourth, the longest run in that position since Spurs started 23
consecutive games fourth between December 2005 and May 2006, ending the
season fifth after losing 1-2 to West Ham on the final day.
Leicester's Brendan Rodgers has faced Chelsea 13 times in his managerial
career; no side has he faced more. However, he is winless in all 13 of his
meetings with the Blues (D7 L6), only losing more often against Manchester
United (9).
Leicester's Harvey Barnes has scored in consecutive Premier League matches,
having scored in just two of his first 39 appearances in the competition.
He's never scored in three consecutive league matches within the top four
tiers of English football.
Chelsea midfielder Jorginho has a 100% record from the penalty spot for the
Blues in the Premier League, scoring four out of four. Since the start of
last season, 27% of his touches in the opposition box have been penalties (4
of 15).
Charlie's prediction
Chelsea are up and down. Is Michy Batshuayi a replacement for Tammy Abraham?
No. Could he do a short-term job? Possibly. He is not a link-up player, but
more of a penalty-box player and Abraham has more than that. But they have
limited options ahead of Deadline Day. Some of the young players have gone
slightly off the boil.
Leicester will have had a lot taken out of them over the festive period.
They were strong favourites against Aston Villa and failed to make the
final. Brendan Rodgers will not like losing cup ties, as he had none of that
with Celtic.
Jamie Vardy came on and James Maddison played well, but they do not have
balance right. There is a vulnerability at the back for Leicester and they
will be questioning themselves. They have more than enough for the top four
but both will be more than happy with a point from this one.
CHARLIE PREDICTS: 1-1 (6/1 with Sky Bet)
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