Leicester City vs Chelsea Preview : Maresca’s Leicester Reunion
The return of the Premier League commences with Enzo Maresca and his Chelsea side travelling to his former club Leicester City. Chelsea will be looking to maintain their top 4 spot, whereas Leicester will be looking to get one up on their former boss while distancing themselves from the bottom three.
Enzo Maresca returns to King Power Stadium with his team in third place after making a positive impression since leaving the Foxes for the Blues.
The Blues would be only one point behind Manchester City in second place with three points on Saturday after Pedro Neto’s goal secured a 1-1 draw against Arsenal just before the international break.
The Foxes , however, are currently sitting the highest out of all three promoted sides. Although they’d be content by their current position, they are winless in their last three games after defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Here is this weekend’s preview!
Chelsea’s vital festive period
Following the draw with Arsenal, the tough run for Chelsea will ease on paper for now. Although imperfect, Chelsea have earned two hard fought draws against Manchester United and Arsenal respectively, aswell as impressing against Liverpool in an unlucky defeat at Anfield recently. Although there have been some fans that feel they should’ve got more from these games, there is no denying that these performances have been far more impressive than those produced in these fixtures last year. After enduring this run, the Blues come out in third position with upcoming fixtures looking easier on the eye. Prior this weekend, Chelsea are the only side yet to face any of the newly promoted teams.
There will be a sense of optimism amongst the Blues faithful heading to the King Power Stadium as they look to hold on to their third place position with a huge opportunity to start to consolidate their top four ambitions heading into 2025.
Depending on the fitness of returning international stars, this young Chelsea side will be brimming with confidence and quality with the Foxes being the first task for them to commence this busy festive run in.
Foxes looking to defy all the odds
With ten points in eleven games, the East Midland side have undoubtedly exceeded expectations since their return to the top flight. Although they’ve held their own to date, they still have a way to go in order to prove their doubters wrong. Steve Cooper’s side have been on the receiving end of less encouraging results of late though as they’ve most recently endured a 3-0 loss to Manchester United. With a couple of question marks over fitness, the Foxes will be looking to put their most recent slump behind them as quick as possible.
With this in mind, the hosts will still undoubtedly have to be tactically aware in order to upset a Chelsea side with quality all over the pitch. In such a fixture for the Foxes, managerial adjustments along with the availability of key experienced players like Jamie Vardy could prove vital. Although this Leicester side have been hit with significant injuries of late, could they make a statement in this season’s relegation battle?
Team News
Following this week’s press conferences, Steve Cooper has said the host’s are sweating on the fitness of Jordan Ayew, Patson Daka and talisman Jamie Vardy who are all vying to be involved. In addition, Steve Cooper unfortunately confirmed that Abdul Fatawu has been ruled out for the rest of the season following a serious knee injury.
As for the Blues, they will be without captain Reece James yet again following another hamstring set back In training. The SW6 side, however, are hopeful Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill can feature on the back of their withdrawals from the England squad over the international break. With a generally fit side heading into the weekend, Maresca will have to assess late returners, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez who have had lengthy journeys back from South America. In his Press Conference, Maresca said :
“The ones that are going to play, are not going to be 100 per cent because they are human beings.”
Will this be an opportunity for other midfielders like former Leicester star Kiernan Dewsbury- Hall who is also returning to the King Power Stadium for the first time since his summer move?
Head to Head
As expected, Chelsea have a significant record of wins over Leicester City, having won 62 and the latter winning 28 in all meetings. The clubs last met in last season’s FA Cup quarter final where Maresca took his then Leicester side to the Bridge. The game was an absolute thriller which eventually ended as a 4-2 victory for Pochettino’s Blues. Late goals from Carney Chukwuemeka and Noni Madueke sealed a spot in the FA Cup semi final that day.
Will the Blues be able to replicate such a performance to get them over the line this weekend or will Leicester better that previous result and cause an upset?
Prediction
Maresca has stated heading into this game that ‘Leicester know us better than we know them’ due to some of his former stars knowing what to expect from his style of play. Aswell as that, the Foxes have been undoubtedly exceeding all expectations under the guidance of the well respected Steve Cooper. With this, the Blues defence can be got at and potentially with the know how of Jamie Vardy, the Foxes could be a good challenge for this young Chelsea side in their hunt for top four.
On the other hand, it is still very hard to look past Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea side who haven’t been short of goals.
Ultimately, it would take a massive performance from Steve Cooper’s men to seriously hurt high flying Chelsea. This should be another step towards a successful first season for Maresca and Chelsea.
Score Prediction: Leicester City 1-3 Chelsea
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