After enduring a painful defeat against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, Chelsea will have to contend with the Champions of England to progress into the 4th round of the English League Cup. They travel to the King Power this Tuesday to take on Claudio Raneiri’s men in a feisty knockout encounter. Both teams will play a strong lineup and will hope to progress as far as possible in search of silverware in the new season. The Champions are fresh from consecutive 3-0 victories and will give Conte another tough test. Here is the preview of this game, along with the team news, predicted lineups, predictions and betting odds.
The 3rd round League Cup tie between Leicester City and Chelsea will be played on Tuesday, the 20th of September at the King Power stadium in Leicester. The kickoff is scheduled at 19:45 BST (00:15 IST on Wednesday).
Team News:
Claudio Ranieri will be happy with the form of Islam Slimani on his debut and might not tinker much with his squad for this game. Midfielder Nampalys Mendy still remains a few days away from returning to training while Kasper Schmeichel remains the only other long term injury problem for the manager.
Antonio Conte might think about resting a couple of his first team players for this game as he has a strong squad to deal with the domestic competitions. Skipper John Terry remains sidelined for atleast another week while Kurt Zouma and Marko and Ginkel are the only other injury concern for the Blues.
Expected Lineups:
Leicester City:
Zieler; Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs; Amartey, Mahrez, Drinkwater, Albrighton; Vardy, Slimani.
Chelsea:
Begovic; Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill, Alonso; Kante, Oscar, Matic; Willian, Batshuayi, Hazard.
Key Battles:
Eden Hazard vs Wes Morgan:
The Belgian winger has been in fine form recently and will be one of the biggest threats from Chelsea’s side on the night. Morgan has been brilliant this season but will have to be at his best to keep Hazard away from goal if Leicester are to come out of this game alive in the Cup.
Islam Slimani vs David Luiz:
It takes some doing to replace Jamie Vardy as the star player for Leicester City but the Algerian club record signing, Islam Slimani, has done that on his debut. He scored a brace in the recent league fixture and will be full of confidence ahead of this game and will be up against David Luiz, who was not too bad in the game against Liverpool. This battle can decide the game on the night.
Key Stats:
Chelsea have failed to beat Leicester in their last two attempts but had won eight consecutive games against the Foxes beforehand.
Chelsea came away with a 4-3 victory the last time the sides met in the League Cup back in 2007.
Leicester have scored three goals in each of their last two competitive fixtures.
Leicester City defeated Chelsea 2-0 when they meet for the Premier League clash at the King Power Stadium last season.
The win ended the Foxes’ terrible run of 8 consecutive losses against Chelsea in all competitions. The teams drew 1-1 at Stamford Bridge in the reverse leg on May 2016.
The teams drew 1-1 at Stamford Bridge in the reverse leg on May 2016.
Betting Odds:
Leicester City: 13/5
Draw: 14/5
Chelsea: 21/10
Predictions:
Leicester City have enjoyed some decent success against the London outfit recently and will not be fazed by their threats in the game. They will try to match the intensity of the visitors on the night and playing at home might just be the factor that tilts this game into their favor. But Conte’s side will be fired up and will give this game a serious go making this a close contest. This game might go the distance and end on penalties.
Our Prediction:
Leicester City 2-2 Chelsea