Premier League, Leicester City vs Chelsea: Preview, Dream11 and stats
The matches are coming thick and fast in the Premier League as Leicester City face Chelsea tonight in a crunch battle. Third-placed Leicester will be aiming to get the job done against an inconsistent Chelsea side, who won their previous encounter and are seventh. Leicester are unbeaten in five league games and will be confident. Here is the match preview.
Leicester will hope that talisman Jamie Vardy makes the cut after being substituted against Southampton with an ongoing hip issue. Dennis Praet remains sidelined, while fit-again defender Caglar Soyuncu could start his first game since December 3. For the Blues, Andreas Christensen is back in contention after recovering from a knee injury. Meanwhile, mid-fielder N'Golo Kante is ruled out by a hamstring problem.
A win for Leicester City will take them to the top position in the league table for the time being. As many as six teams are battling it out with nothing much to separate them. It's about composure for Leicester, who need a strong show at home. Chelsea will need to click and Mason Mount is their main man to lead the show.
Leicester are unbeaten in their past five league fixtures against Chelsea, their best such run for 20 years. The Foxes are vying to begin a calendar year with three consecutive top-flight wins for the second time. Chelsea's summer arrival Timo Werner has gone 10 Premier League appearances without a goal. Chelsea could lose three consecutive midweek league fixtures for the first time since 2012.
Leicester City predicted starting XI: Schmeichel; Castagne, Fofana, Evans, Justin; Ndidi, Tielemans; Albrighton, Maddison, Barnes; Vardy. Chelsea predicted starting XI: Mendy; James, Zouma, Silva, Chilwell; Gilmour, Kovacic, Mount; Ziyech, Abraham, Hudson-Odoi. Dream11 team prediction (4-3-3): Schmeichel; James, Evans, Zouma, Chilwell; Maddison (vc), Tielemans, Barnes; Pulisic, Abraham, Mount (c). Match prediction: Leicester City 1-1 Chelsea.
The match is set to start at 1:45 AM IST on Wednesday. One can watch the match live on the Star Sports Network and stream the same on the Hotstar app (paid subscription).
