Here we have our Premier League preview, as Monday Night Football sees a match between high flying Leicester City and a Chelsea side that are yet to hit their best form. The match is being played at the King Power Stadium with it kicking off at 20:00. The two questions on everyone’s lips are, can Leicester remain their great form and maintain their status at the top of the table? And is this the game Jose Mourinho’s men turn their Premier League season around?
Match preview and all the Stats
It is fair to say that Leicester City have had a remarkable start to the Premier League season. They sit top of the Premier League; two points clear of second place Arsenal. They have only been on the losing side once this season, which at the stage is the record equal with Tottenham. Two players in particular have been in the spotlight for this side. The first one is Riyad Mahrez. He has played 14 matches this season, he has created five goals. This is what you would expect from your wide player. As well as this, he has come out with 10 goals which have proved huge in their great start to the season. The other player that is talked about loads this season is England international Jamie Vardy. He has been in the form of his life this season. He has also broken a record for the most goals in consecutive games, taking it from ex Manchester United star Ruud Van Nistelrooy. He has scored 14 goals this season, which at this point, makes him the top goal scorer in the league. He will be full of confidence, and he will know if he can keep this great form up, he has every chance of going to the Euro’s with England next summer. If Leicester City can keep these two players when the transfer window opens, they may have a chance of getting into European next season. However, it only takes an injury to one of those names to stop them in their tracks, so Leicester will take the right precautions to make sure they stay fit. Their manager Claudio Ranieri has done an outstanding job since his arrival in the summer. If he can keep the good work up, he may well go down as a legend at the club. Because getting a European place for this club would be massive achievement, it would be great for the club, players and more importantly, the fans. This will be a huge challenge for them because although Chelsea haven’t done the best this season, the squad is still full of unbelievable talent, and when they hit form, they will cause any team in the world trouble.
Chelsea have been on very poor form in the Premier League this season. After their triumph last season, when they finished as the champions, they now sit 14th in the Premier League after 15 matches. This was not expected by anyone but it seems they have lost the winning mentality they had last year. However, they have performed very well in the Champions League up to now. This week they secured their position in the knockout stages, beating Porto 2-0 at home. They looked a different team in that game, they showed what they are capable of, it reminded a lot of people what they were like last season in the Premier League. They will be hoping to carry that momentum into this game when they visit Leicester. Someone who had a huge impact on the league win last season was Spanish striker Diego Costa. He was huge for them, scoring 20 times to help them to be Champions. However, this season there has been a lot of speculation going around about his future at the club, he was thought to have fallen out with manager Jose Mourinho and wanted a move away from the bridge. His actions against Tottenham where he threw a bib was a sign that he was really unhappy at the club as the BBC reported. He has since apologised for his actions and got 70 minutes in the Champions League game during the week. Chelsea will be hoping this is the turning point in his season that he needed. He has only managed to score 3 times this season, and for your first choice striker that is really not good enough. Also last year’s player of the season Eden Hazard is yet to show his full form. He started the season very quiet, not being mentioned at all. He has since picked up his performances but is not anywhere near what he was last season. Once these two men can start playing to their capabilities again, they will be very difficult to beat once again. Manager Jose Mourinho has been in the spotlight a lot this season, this run of bad results has made people believe he could soon be sacked from his job at Chelsea. The pressure is on them and if he cannot start getting some good results, he may not be there to see the end of the season.
Leicester and Chelsea team news
Leicester have just one player who will miss this game and that is central midfielder Matty James. His cruciate ligament injury he picked up in may still keep him out. He is not expected to return until early February.
Jose Mourinho will be able to select his side from a fully fit squad. No one is out for this match away to Leicester. The only news is that Diego Costa has picked up four bookings this season, meaning he is just one away from having a suspension.
Betting predictions
Leicester have been in unbelievable form this season and have only been on the losing side once. So for them, this is a game that they should be looking at and thinking they are going to win it. However, Chelsea are coming off the back of a big Champions League win which would have put a bit of confidence back within the team. If they can put out a similar kind of performance against Leicester on the weekend, they have every chance of winning this game. Willian has been very impressive for them this season and looks very good in front of goal. He would be a good player to back for an anytime goal scorer. You can check out the rest of the Premier League predictions.