Chelsea host Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday, with the away side being one of only two non-Premier League teams left in the tournament.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men could make this torrid season look a lot better with an FA Cup triumph, but with Manchester City, Liverpool, Newcastle and Manchester United also in the quarter-finals, it will be a very big ask.
Leicester currently have a three-point lead at the top of the Championship and have looked like a Premier League-level side for much of the campaign, so they will feel that they have every chance of beating this Chelsea team at Stamford Bridge, especially after Leeds United nearly prevailed here in the last round.
Here is 90min’s preview of Chelsea vs Leicester in the FA Cup.
Chelsea vs Leicester H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current Form (all competitions)
|
Chelsea |
Leicester |
|---|---|
|
Chelsea 3-2 Newcastle – 11/03/24 |
Hull 2-2 Leicester – 09/03/24 |
|
Brentford 2-2 Chelsea – 02/03/2024 |
Sunderland 0-1 Leicester – 05/03/24 |
|
Chelsea 3-2 Leeds – 28/02/2024 |
Leicester 1-2 QPR – 02/03/24 |
|
Chelsea 0-1 Liverpool – 25/02/2024 |
Bournemouth 0-1 Leicester 27/02/24 |
|
Man City 1-1 Chelsea – 17/02/2024 |
Leeds 3-1 Leicester – 23/02/24 |
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
BBC Sport Web, BBC Radio 5 Live, TalkSport Radio UK, BBC One, BBC iPlayer |
|
United States |
SiriusXM FC, ESPN+ |
|
Canada |
Sportsnet World Now, Sportsnet Now Plus, Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet Now, Sportsnet World, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet West, Sportsnet Ontario |
Chelsea are boosted by Ben Chilwell being back in training after a knee problem, but he is not expected to start this match as there is little point in risking him. Benoit Badiashile could also feature again, but they will be without Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Lesley Ugochukwu, Levi Colwill, Romeo Lavia, and Christopher Nkunku.
There will be a change in midfield as Enzo Fernandez is suspended, but he won’t be replaced by Cesare Casadei as the Italian is cup-tied – he was, ironically, on loan at Leicester earlier this season.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs Leicester (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Gusto, Disasi, Chalobah, Cucurella; Caicedo, Gallagher; Mudryk, Palmer, Sterling; Jackson.
As for Leicester, they are going to be without two key players in the shape of Ricardo Pereira and Dennis Praet, with both recently suffering hamstring injuries. Kasey McAteer is also unavailable.
It seemed that they would be the only absentees from the Leicester team, but Enzo Maresca confirmed on Friday that veteran striker Jamie Vardy will not be able to build on the four goals he has scored against Chelsea in the past.
Leicester predicted lineup vs Chelsea (4-3-3): Hermansen; Choudhury, Faes, Vestergaard, Justin; Dewsbury-Hall, Ndidi, Winks; Fatawu, Iheanacho, Mavididi
Predicting a Chelsea match this season is not a simple task, and predicting FA Cup matches is even harder. There is certainly a chance for Leicester here given they are top of the Championship and Chelsea are very inconsistent.
That being said, players like Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer are doing well enough that Chelsea should get over the line and secure another trip to Wembley.
Prediction: Chelsea 3-1 Leicester City
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90 Mins
