Of the four remaining FA Cup quarterfinal ties, Chelsea FC at Leicester City stands out as the most tantalizing on paper. It’s a battle of sides that are currently third and fourth in the table. Chelsea come into this one riding high, having just knocked off Manchester City and ended their two year title run.
Christian Pulisic was huge in that game, following up his stellar turn in the first match of Project Restart. As for Leicester, they will be looking to reach the FA Cup semifinals for the first time since 1981-82.
Team News
Chelsea still have two, but only two, major absentees in Callum Hudson-Odoi and Fikayo Tomori. Look for manager Frank Lampard to do some squad rotation here, but still field a fairly strong side. Pulisic, along with N’Golo Kante, Antonio Rudiger and Tammy Abraham, will likely get the night off.
As for Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes, there are just two injury concerns here as well: defenders Daniel Amartey (ankle) and Ricardo Pereira (Achilles). Neither side has any fresh injury concerns, doubtfuls or suspensions to contend with.
Chelsea FC Predicted Starting XI (4-3-3): Caballero, James, Zouma, Christensen, Alonso, Jorginho, Gilmour, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek, Giroud, Pedro
Leicester City Predicted Starting XI (4-3-3): Ward, Justin, Morgan, Evans, Fuchs, Choudhury, Tielemans, Maddison, Barnes, Vardy, Perez
Other FA Cup Preview Guides: Manchester United-Norwich City, Newcastle-Man City
FA Cup Quarterfinal FYIs
Kickoff: June 28, 4pm, King Power Stadium
Form Guide: Chelsea LDWWW Leicester City LLWWD
TV: BT Sport 1 and BT Sport Ultimate
Key Stat: Leicester are winless in all eight previous FA Cup matches against Chelsea (D2 L6)
Recent Series History: Chelsea have lost only two of their last 20 games against the Foxes across all competitions (W13 D5 L2). However, the Blues have failed to taste victory in any of those four (D3 L1).
FA Cup Prediction: Chelsea 2, Leicester City 0
The Blues come into this one brimming with confidence while Leicester have been slumping lately across most of their recent body of work. Don’t really want to pick against current momentum here.
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 contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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