Leicester vs Chelsea – Premier League: Live score, lineups and updates
Leicester 0-0 Chelsea LIVE: Mykhailo Mudryk starts for Graham Potter’s side as they look to make it three wins in a row following victories over Leeds and Borussia Dortmund
Follow Sportsmail’s live blog for the Premier League clash between Leicester and Chelsea.
Host commentator
Almost some brilliant play by Havertz (almost) sets Reece James away, but his skill is just off and touch far too heavy. The pass suffers as a result.
Leicester work the throw in, taken inside their own defensive third, well. And work it out to Iheanacho who beats Cucurella with some bright footwork, but can’t dig out the cross from the by-line.
Cucurella is dropping into the midfield, like he did superbly on Tuesday night. Leicester will have to make sure to pick him up.
Leicester are imposing themselves on the visitors in the early knockings of this game. This is exactly what Rodgers will be demanding from his side.
We are underway. Leicester kick us off.
Two changes each.
Leicester City XI: Ward, Faes, Maddison, Iheanacho, Souttar, Amartey, Daka, Pereira, Dewsbury-Hall, Mendy, Castagne.
Subs: Iversen, Evans, Barnes, Vardy, Ndidi, Praet, Thomas, Tete, Soumare.
Chelsea XI: Kepa, Fernandes, Kovacic, Felix, Loftus-Cheek, Mudryk, Chilwell, Koulibaly, Havertz, Cucurella, Fofana.
Subs: Bettinelli, Badiashille, Pulisic, Chalobah, Zakaria, Ziyech, Gallagher, Chukwuemeka, Madueke.
Only 10 minutes to go until kick-off now. A win could take Leicester as high as 12th, that’s how tight it is down there.
For Chelsea, three points would not see them move but they would close in on Brentford in ninth, the Blues with a game in hand.
An update. The BBC have apologised for limited football programming this afternoon, and are striving to ‘resolve the situation’.
Click below to read more.
Enjoying a rare Saturday off?
The Match of the Day host looks remarkably unperturbed as he arrives at the King Power to watch his beloved Leicester City host Chelsea.
What an utterly mad thing the Premier League is. Beating Manchester United 7-0 one week, to losing 1-0 at Bournemouth the next.
Jurgen Klopp has a bit to ponder, once again, before his side fly to Madrid to try and overturn a 5-2 aggregate deficit.
Graham Potter, to be fair to him, has remained – largely – light-hearted and humorous in his press conferences despite being under an unimaginable amount of stress and strain.
Here are a few snippets of what he had to say ahead of his side’s visit to Leicester.
‘I’d rather just focus on the next game, focus on Leicester and how we win that, how we keep things rolling, because you can tie yourself in knots. Ultimately just keep it simple – the next match – and try to win it.
‘Historically the club has won the Champions League and some of these players in the dressing room have won the Champions League,’ he added. ‘Some have moved on or have been injured, and new players have come in.
‘There has been a period of transition over the two windows, a lot has happened, so maybe in terms of consistent performance levels and getting the consistent results that we want, we’re not quite at that point. But on any given day, I think it is fair to say we can match any team in the Premier League, but we need to do it more often.’
Rodgers is hoping for an improvement from his team as the threat of relegation grows graver and graver by the week.
‘In the Southampton game, the result was very disappointing for us but there were lots of elements of the performance that were okay – the work ethic of the team, the togetherness of the team,’ he said.
‘If you analyse the performance, overall, it wasn’t too bad. We started the game very well and then gave away a disappointing goal. We had a five or six-minute spell where, after the penalty, then they score a goal we’re disappointed with.
‘We created opportunities, but we just didn’t score. And this level, if you don’t take the opportunities, then for those few moments in the game when we concede, that’s what cost us.
‘The reaction was there. I can’t fault the players in the effort and commitment that they gave. Sometimes we don’t quite find the quality to finish – that’s the disappointment when you have clear chances to score and don’t take them.
‘There’s been games where we haven’t been intense enough or played with enough intensity. That’s different, but the basics of this game were good. I was disappointed for them because they didn’t deserve to lose the game.
‘It’s something going forward that we’ve got to build on and then add the quality to it. I’ve always said, I believe in the players, I believe in our work.’
In the early kick-off, there is about 10 minutes to go. Bournemouth lead Liverpool 1-0 thanks to Philip Billing’s first half goal.
In the other 3pms today, Tottenham host Nottingham Forest. What could an away win spell for the future of Antonio Conte? There could potentially be a revolt in N17 if they lose today.
Brighton, with an outside shot of making the top four, travel to Leeds. The home side desperately need points.
See above for the context of Brentford’s trip to Everton.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace, whose supporters are increasingly warning everyone of their impending doom, host Manchester City.
What is there to say about Mudryk at this stage? He is young and has arrived from a country that is currently being ravaged by war. He deserves plenty of time, and Potter’s decision to leave him out in the last few games suggests the club are more than willing to give him that time.
However, some sort of return will be expected at some point. He was mesmerising in his cameo against Liverpool at the end of January, beating James Milner all ends up on Chelsea’s left-hand side. Since then, it has been somewhat meh. Perhaps the nadir came a month ago when he was substituted after just 45 minutes against West Ham.
Potter has given him an opportunity to impress from the outset today. He clearly has the self belief to capitalise.
Annnnd your Leicester team.
Your team, set for #LEICHE ✊ pic.twitter.com/fjcwQhvekL
The Chelsea team today.
Your Chelsea today! 💪@ParimatchGlobal | #LeiChe pic.twitter.com/7yK0bk1B5K
Well, what a quite surreal last 24 hours or so in the football world. The country’s flagship highlights programme stands on the brink amid a row between the government and a sports broadcaster that had looked to be petering out midway through the week.
But enough of that, today we’re bringing you live coverage of Chelsea’s trip to Leicester. What a difference a week can make, eh?
Like Match of the Day, Graham Potter was teetering on the edge this time last week. But two wins, including Tuesday night’s 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund that saw Chelsea advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, a competition that, like in 2021, has no obvious winner, has (some of) the supporters back onside. Barcelona were obviously the shoo-ins in 2012, we’re sorry.
Potter’s side travel to Leicester looking to make it three wins on the spin in all competitions since his initial months at the club. Can they do it?
Well, is there a better opponent at the moment? Brendan Rodgers’ side are in utter freefall. The players look demotivated, the manager equally so; without James Maddison, they have little to no creativity and the spark of the recruitment of yesteryear, that delivered a league title and an FA Cup has very much extinguished.
Team news is to come shortly.
Source: Read Full Article