Chelsea-Leicester is an FA Cup quarterfinal match and is played Sunday at 1:45 p.m.: stats, odds, predictions, live TV and streaming.
Domestic cups as a lifeline. We have used this metaphor several times when writing about Chelsea, which in order to return to Europe may be forced to take one of the last “cabs,” namely the FA Cup. In the other cup, the League Cup, the Blues’ hopes were dashed in the second extra time of the final with Liverpool, when penalties seemed inevitable.
Mauricio Pochettino is trying again, knowing that to get to Wembley again, again the venue for the last act of the event, will be even more difficult, as there are still the two Manchesters and Liverpool itself in the running. The first hurdle to the semifinals, meanwhile, is Enzo Maresca’s Leicester, first in the Championship standings and a leading candidate for direct promotion to the Premier.
The Foxes are close to returning to the top flight after only one year of purgatory, but in the last month the decline has been evident, and if before it looked like domination now the race for the top two places has completely reopened, with Leeds and Ipswich Town making a comeback. The gap against both is minimal and the feeling is that there will be suffering to the last.
Leicester is not shining
Leicester comes from the disappointing 1-1 draw with Hull City, a conspicuous step backward from the previous match with Sunderland, in which Maresca’s men, beating the Black Cats 1-0, had ended a worrying streak of three defeats in a row.
Three consecutive positive results, on the other hand, for Chelsea, which got the better of Newcastle at Stamford Bridge (3-2) in Monday’s post-match match, climbing to 39 points and moving to within -4 of seventh place. The Londoners, however, must make up a match, the derby with Tottenham, postponed to allow Pochettino’s team to play in the League Cup final. Chelsea without Lavia, Nkunku, James, Ugochukwu and Fofana but one of Colwill and Chilwell is expected to return to
The Prediction
Chelsea should be able to get through this round without any problems and impose themselves on a lower-ranked team that moreover is not going through a positive period. Both should score.
The probable formations of Chelsea-Leicester
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Petrovic; Malo Gusto, Thiago Silva, Chalobah, Cucurella; Enzo Fernandez, Caicedo; Palmer, Gallagher, Sterling; Nicolas Jackson.
LEICESTER (4-2-3-1): Hermansen; Choudhary, Faes, Coady, Doyle; Winks, Drewsbury-Hall; Issahaku, Justin, Mavdidi; Vardy.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
