Chelsea’s Reece James will be absent because of illness, while injured pair Raheem Sterling and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are set to miss out.Jonny Evans could return to Leicester’s matchday squad for the first time since November after recovering from calf and thigh injuries. Harvey Barnes has overcome the ankle problem that prompted his substitution against Southampton last week. This weekend will probably come too soon for Mason Mount and N’Golo Kante.
Fresh from claiming the biggest win of his Chelsea career so far, Graham Potter takes his Blues side to the King Power Stadium for Saturday’s clash with a confidence-sapped Leicester City. The visitors saw off Borussia Dortmund 2-1 on aggregate in the Champions League last 16 in midweek, while Brendan Rodgers’s men went down 1-0 to Southampton last time out. At a ground where they famously put nine past Southampton only three and a half years ago, Leicester were stunted by the Saints at St Mary’s, failing to turn 65% possession into anything meaningful as they slumped to another painful defeat.
A solitary Carlos Alcaraz strike in the 35th minute was all that was needed to separate the two sides on the night, condemning the Foxes to a fourth straight defeat – including three Premier League defeats in a row – during their latest discouraging spell of form. As well as witnessing his side fail to find the back of the net or even the target, Rodgers was subjected to chants from the fans calling for his departure, as Leicester languish in 15th in the Premier League table – just two points clear of the drop zone and a further 10 adrift of a top-half spot.
Few would knock Leicester for losing to Arsenal and Manchester United, but going out of the FA Cup at the hands of Blackburn Rovers before wasting chance after chance against Southampton is alarming, and the Foxes could now become the first Premier League team on record to have no shots on target three games in a row. Rodgers is also at risk of making unwanted personal history – the 50-year-old has lost a joint-high 15 league games this season and could make that 16 this weekend – and Leicester enter Saturday’s contest having failed to score in four of their last six Premier League home battles.
The security of Graham Potter’s job has also been a hot topic in the Premier League managerial landscape, but the Englishman has surely got some of the Blues’ disgruntled fans back on his side by masterminding a thoroughly-deserved success over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League. In an all-too familiar sight for Blues supporters, the ball seem destined to not cross the line at Stamford Bridge, but Raheem Sterling’s strike and a retaken Kai Havertz penalty saw Chelsea erase a 1-0 deficit from the first leg and book their spot in the quarter-finals. Now basking in the success of back-to-back wins following last week’s top-flight triumph over Leeds United, Potter may be starting to vindicate the board’s decision to keep him on, but Wesley Fofana’s game-winning header against the Whites did little to improve Chelsea’s 10th-placed standing in the Premier League table.
With an 11-point gap to make up to fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur – who have played a game more – going for glory in the Champions League is arguably the Blues’ best route back into continental competition next year, and their away fortunes still make for wholly unpleasant reading. Indeed, Chelsea are now winless in their last 10 road matches in all competitions – losing seven of them and scoring just four goals in the process – but the Blues prevailed 2-1 against the Foxes at Stamford Bridge in August and could record their first league double over the hosts since 2016-17, when they wrestled the Premier League crown out of Leicester’s grasp.
Leicester’s misery at Southampton was compounded by an injury to Harvey Barnes, who had to be withdrawn at half time due to a twisted ankle, although he is not thought to have suffered any serious damage and may be available here. However, Saturday’s game is expected to come too soon for James Justin, Youri Tielemans and Victor Kristiansen – while Ryan Bertrand and Jonny Evans remain doubts as they build up their respective fitness levels, but the latter is in with a chance of making the squad Kelechi Iheanacho was guilty of squandering several chances against Southampton, but Rodgers has leapt to the defence of the Nigerian and should keep faith in him from the first whistle here.
