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Recommended bets
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Match preview
It’s been a fantastic week for Chelsea, so far, so can the Blues win back-to-back league games for the first time since mid-October?
Last weekend, the Blues long wait for a win came to an end, beating Leeds 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, courtesy of Wesley Fofana’s towering header.
Then, on Tuesday night, Graham Potter’s team reached the Champions League quarter-finals, overturning a 1-0 first leg deficit against Borussia Dortmund.
Raheem Sterling levelled the tie on the cusp of half time, before Kai Havertz, at the second attempt, cooly slotted home a penalty.
This lifts a lot of pressure off Potter’s shoulders, but his team are still tenth in the Premier League, so this needs to be the start of a serious upturn in form.
Leicester City could be ideal opponents, given that they’ve lost three in a row, not mustering a shot on target for almost four hours.
Kelechi Ịheanachọ missed a bucket load of chances, before Harry Souttar’s stoppage time header cannoned off the crossbar.
So, having lost seven of their last ten, Brendan Rodgers’ side are 15th, a mere two points clear of the relegation zone.
Excluding a behind-closed-doors-match, Chelsea are unbeaten in eight visits to the King Power, dating back to December 2015, beaten 2-1 in José Mourinho final match in charge, during Leicester’s title winning campaign.
A week ago, this looked like, potentially, being Potter’s last game as boss, but now he’s targeting a third successive victory.
Leicester City team news
Given Kelechi Ịheanachọ‘s wayward finishing at St Mary’s, it wouldn’t be too surprising if either Jamie Vardy or Patson Daka came in for this one.
In defence, Victor Kristiansen, who was just settling in nicely, has picked up an injury, so Timothy Castagne will fill in at left-back.
On the other side, Ricardo Pereira is fit again, which is a big boost.
James Maddison scored when Leicester beat Chelsea 2-0 two years ago, and the attacking burden very much rests on his shoulders.
Predicted XI (4-3-3): Ward; Ricardo, Faes, Souttar, Castage; Mendy, Dewsbury-Hall, Maddison; Tetê, Barnes, Vardy.
Chelsea team news
Centre-back Thiago Silva is out long-term but Benoît Badiashile, who isn’t in the UEFA squad, can return at the back here.
For the last two games, that they’ve won, Graham Potter has switched to a back three, featuring fit again Wesley Fofana.
Mateo Kovačić, who was captain on Tuesday, appears to be Enzo Fernández’s best partner, allowing the new big-money signing to get forward.
Christian Pulisic enjoyed a little cameo against his former club, but Raheem Sterling and João Félix are likely to continue in support of Kai Havertz.
N’Golo Kanté and Mason Mount are out injured, while Mykhaylo Mudryk has seen just seven minutes of action across the last three fixtures.
Predicted XI (5-2-3): Arrizabalaga; James, Fofana, Koulibaly, Badiashile, Chilwell; Fernández, Kovačić; João Félix, Sterling; Havertz.
Leicester City vs Chelsea: Head to head statistics
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Premier League table
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