The very first match of the Premier League weekend also happens to be the best one; at least on paper. It’s also one that, according to recent trends, doesn’t bode well for the home team side, third place Leicester City. The hosts have not won any of the last six meetings between these two clubs in Premier League competition.
Also, fourth place Chelsea have shown a better penchant for winning at the King Power than anybody else. We’ll see if the trend is your friend here. In looking at the team news for this one, Leicester should have their talisman, Jamie Vardy, fit enough to start as he’s now returned from a recent gluteal injury. He was fit enough to come off the bench at feature in the EFL Cup loss to Aston Villa.
Captain Wes Morgan and Nampalys Mendy remain out however.
“We’ve spoken about it a lot. Every team is unified when you’re winning,” Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers said in regards to crashing out of the League Cup.
“They’re going to have bumps along the way, but we have to use it as a motivating factor as we’re still in another cup competition. I’ve seen them today and the spirit is still very strong.”
Flipping over to the visitors, we got another update on the health of Christian Pulisic this week. He’s progressing well, and ahead of schedule, but this match will come too soon for his return. due to resume training this week but only has a small chance of making this game, while
Striker Tammy Abraham is also doubtful, due to an ankle injury. Ruben Loftus-Cheek has resumed training but he likely won’t be ready in time.
Chelsea FC at Leicester City FYIs
February 1, 12:30 pm, King Power Stadium
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Key stats/facts: No team has won more Premier League games away at Leicester’s King Power Stadium than Chelsea (four).
Recent series history: Leicester City are unbeaten in the past four PL contests (W1, D3)
Form Guide: Leicester City WLLWW Chelsea DLWDW
Probabilities via Google: Leicester City win 37%, Draw 27%, Chelsea FC win 36%
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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