The fifth time was the charm for Leicester City, who achieved their first FA Cup title on Saturday, after having lost in their first four final apperances. The upset victory marked the club’s first trophy since the magical league title season of 2015-16 and also the first trophy in English football for manager Brendan Rodgers.
Now comes the rematch, three days later, where there are different repercussions, but the stakes remain high. Once again the clash will take place in London, but this time at Chelsea’s home ground, as the two clash in league play, with Champions League qualification on the line.
Leicester City at Chelsea FYIs
Kickoff: Tues May 18, Stamford Bridge, 8:15pm GMT
PL Form Guide: Chelsea LWWWD Leicester City WLDWW
PL Position: Chelsea 4th 64pts Leicester City 3rd 66pts
Team News: go here
Odds: Chelsea win -140 Draw +270 Leicester City win +420
Series history: Chelsea wins 57 Leicester City wins 28 Draws 34
“We are disappointed and not angry with our performance from the boys, I think the performance is enough to win it,” said Blues boss Thomas Tuchel, after his side lost 1-0 to Leicester in the cup competition finale.
“I think today we were unlucky and we’ve never hidden that we need to have that to win at this level. You need momentum, decision making, little details, the referee.”
Indeed, in a game with few scoring chances, everything has to go right in capitalizing on the ones that you do get. Now comes a quick rematch, so Chelsea will have to rapidly regroup.
Starting XI Predictions
Leicester City
Schmeichel; Albrighton, Soyuncu, Fofana; Castagne, Pereira, Ndidi, Tielemans; Maddison, Iheanacho, Vardy
Chelsea
Mendy; Silva, Rudiger, Christensen; Chilwell, Azpilicueta, Kante, Gilmour; Mount, Pulisic, Giroud
Prediction: Chelsea 1, Leicester City 0
It’s not a trophy match of course, but it still has massive repercussions. Chelsea look to avenge the loss from the weekend.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, 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,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.