Leicester

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Chelsea

Chelsea will aim to maintain or increase their three-point lead at the top of the Premier League table when they travel to Leicester City for Saturday's early kickoff. The Blues were held to a 1-1 draw by Burnley last time out, while Brendan Rodgers's side also took a point from their meeting with Leeds United.

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Match preview

Two sides struggling to hit the same heights that they did in the 2020-21 campaign shared the spoils at Elland Road just before the international break, as Leicester were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds. The Whites' main man Raphinha saw his speculative free kick evade everyone before finding the far corner in the 26th minute, but within 10 seconds of the restart after the Brazilian's opener, Harvey Barnes produced an equally spectacular effort to restore parity for the Foxes. However, Leicester's struggles to assert themselves in the Europa League means that it is now three games without a win for Rodgers's side, who sit 12th in the table with just 15 points to their name from a possible 33 so far. Intense speculation surrounding a possible switch to Manchester United for Rodgers certainly is not helping matters for Leicester, who have posted just two Premier League wins from eight since the start of September and are without a clean sheet in 10 league games. Rodgers has also witnessed his side ship two goals in each of their last three top-flight games at the King Power Stadium, and not since the 1997-98 season have Leicester managed to prevail against the team starting the gameweek at the top of the table. Having swept aside nearly all who have come before them so far this term, Chelsea being held to a 1-1 draw by Sean Dyche's Burnley certainly came as a surprise, with the Clarets doing well to halt the league leaders' momentum in West London. Kai Havertz headed home from Reece James's peach of a cross with 33 minutes on the clock, but super sub Matej Vydra took just nine minutes to level the scores after coming off the bench, tapping home in acres of space at the back post in front of a stunned Chelsea crowd. Thomas Tuchel's side saw their seven-game winning run in all competitions come to an abrupt end just before the international break, but the Blues still have a healthy three-point lead at the top of the rankings ahead of Manchester City and West Ham United. The Blues have also won their last three away games in the top flight without shipping a single goal and have conceded just once on the road in the 2021-22 Premier League season, unsurprisingly the best defensive in the league by far. Leicester prevailed 2-0 at the King Power in this fixture last term during the final days of Frank Lampard's reign before that historic FA Cup triumph, but Tuchel's Chelsea claimed a 2-1 win over the Foxes at Stamford Bridge back in May.

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Team News

Leicester lynchpin Youri Tielemans had to come off with calf discomfort in the draw with Leeds and was not involved for Belgium during the international break, with Rodgers now ruling him out for a few weeks. Wesley Fofana and long-term victim James Justin are also set to remain sidelined, but Marc Albrighton and Ryan Bertrand are both making great strides in their recoveries and could be back soon. James Maddison ought to benefit from Tielemans's absence this week, with Barnes sure to hold his place in the XI after his stunning equaliser at Elland Road. Meanwhile, Chelsea have been handed two extremely timely boosts ahead of this game, with Romelu Lukaku and Mason Mount both in contention to return after being pictured on the training pitches, but the former will not be passed fit. Marcos Alonso is also back in training after shaking off an ankle problem, while Mateo Kovacic remains sidelined and Timo Werner is still a major doubt. Ross Barkley was handed a surprise start against Burnley but is sure to drop out with Mount fit again, while Havertz is more than capable of leading the line with Lukaku still absent. Leicester City possible starting lineup: Schmeichel; Pereira, Soyuncu, Evans, Castagne; Ndidi, Soumare; Lookman, Maddison, Barnes; Vardy Chelsea possible starting lineup: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Silva, Rudiger; James, Jorginho, Kante, Chilwell; Hudson-Odoi, Mount; Havertz

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We said: Leicester City 0-1 Chelsea

Even without Lukaku leading the charge, Havertz's new-found confidence coupled with Mount's re-introduction will hugely benefit Chelsea on the attacking front against a leaky Leicester defence. The Foxes have been unable to keep the back door shut at home in recent weeks and will miss Tielemans greatly, so we expect the Blues to get the job done with professionalism.

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