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Chelsea welcome Leicester City to Stamford Bridge on Saturday as they look to build on their recent rise in form, after the demoralizing defeat at Wolves. They will also be aiming to strengthen their position in the top 4 and pile further pressure on the fierce rivals Tottenham and Arsenal.
A win for 12th placed Leicester would temporarily take them to 7th place. Here's all you need to know ahead of the clash.
Chelsea v Leicester City: Kickoff information
Date: 22 December 2018
Time: 15:00 (local time), 20:30 (IST)
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Livestream: Live stream on Hotstar
Chelsea v Leicester City: Team news
Chelsea
Maurizio Sarri, while addressing the media ahead of the clash, confirmed that Andreas Christensen is out for a week or so. Eden Hazard, who scored a fortuitous winner against the Cherries in the League Cup quarter-final, is expected to start against the Foxes.
Meanwhile, Alvaro Morata has returned to training, but Sarri refused to indicate if the Spaniard will feature or not.
Leicester City
Leicester starlet Ben Chilwell is a major doubt because of a knee strain, but Jonny Evans is back in contention after suspension. He, however, may not start.
Chelsea v Leicester City: Probable line-ups
Chelsea (4-3-3): Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso; Kante, Jorginho, Barkley; Pedro, Willian, Hazard
Leicester City (4-2-3-1): Schmeichel; Pereira, Morgan, Maguire, Fuchs; Mendy, Ndidi; Gray, Maddison, Ghezzal; Vardy
Chelsea v Leicester City: Form guide
Last 5 matches (in all competitions)
Chelsea: W-W-D-W-L
Leicester City: D-L-L-D-W
Chelsea v Leicester City: Head-to-head
Chelsea wins: 56
Leicester wins: 25
Draws: 31
Chelsea v Leicester City: Key players
Chelsea
Pedro is Chelsea's second highest goal-scorer this term, only behind the magnificent Eden Hazard. Goals aside, the veteran has come to his own since the 2-0 win against Manchester City. In that fixture, he showed how well he can keep the ball, get forwards into action and create chances.
Since then, he hasn't looked back and once again, we can expect some fireworks from Pedro.
Leicester City
David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger have been a stunning partnership for Chelsea so far, but the former's lack of pace has often left him exposed. In the Foxes' side, if there is one player who can get in behind and expose that weakness, it's the one and only Jamie Vardy.
Chelsea v Leicester City: Prediction
Chelsea will dominate possession, but not create enough chances or openings, as many of the players who started in mid-week, such as Cesar Azpilicueta, Ross Barkley and Antonio Rudiger, will be asked to play the majority of the game again.
Goals in either half of the game should take them over the line.
Predicted score: Chelsea 2-0 Leicester City
