Leicester City Vs Chelsea: The Blues Aim For Victory At King Power Stadium
JAKARTA - The English Premier League is rolling again after the international break, and the King Power Stadium will witness the duel between Leicester City and Chelsea on Saturday 23 November at 12.30 local time. This match became an emotional moment for Enzo Maresca, Chelsea coach, who will face his former team, Leicester, whom he brought back to the Premier League last season.
Leicester, who is now being handled by Steve Cooper, are struggling to stay in the Premier League. They are currently in 15th place with 10 points from 11 matches, only three points adrift of the relegation zone. However, Leicester's performance was less convincing by never winning the last five games in all competitions.
On the other hand, Chelsea have shown more consistent performance this season. Despite winning only once in the last four games, Maresca's side remain in third place in the standings thanks to outstanding goal productivity, especially in away games. Chelsea scored 12 goals in away games this season, best in the league.
Chelsea suffered a minor blow with the absence of their captain, Reece James, who returned to a hamstring injury. Even so, Maresca confirmed that James was the only player who was confirmed to be absent, and a number of other key players such as Romeo Lavia, Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill, and Malo Gusto were back in training and ready to perform.
Meanwhile, Leicester had to lose several key players. Attacker Abdul Fatawu suffered an ACL injury while defending Ghana and was confirmed absent until the end of the season. Jamie Vardy (back injury), Bobby Decordova-Reid (Achilles), and Jordan Ayew (lutut) are still in doubt, although Patson Daka is rumored to have recovered. Facundo Buonanotte also had to miss due to the accumulation of yellow cards.
With Leicester's limp attack due to Fatawu's absence and conditions that are not 100% clear of Vardy and Ayew, the hosts are expected to find it difficult to penetrate Chelsea's defense. On the other hand, Chelsea, who has a record for scoring their best goal in away games this season, has the potential to take advantage of a gap in Leicester's vulnerable backline.
This match is a tough test for Leicester to stop their bad trends, while Chelsea have a great chance of strengthening their position at the top of the standings.
Linester City: Hermansen; Justin, Faes, Vestergaard, Kristiansen; Winks, Ndidi, Soumare; El Khannouss, Edouard, Mavidi
Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Lavia; Madueke, Palmer, Neto; Jackson