On Tuesday evening, Chelsea will make the visit to the East-Midlands as Leicester City look to keep challenging at the climax of the Premier League table.
The Foxes managed to collect a worthy three points on Saturday evening, beating in-form Southampton.
Opponents Chelsea meanwhile travelled to Craven Cottage to face Fulham, ensuring they were victorious beating the relegation fighting club by one goal to the good.
With both sides battling at the top end of the Premier League table, it’s set to be an intriguing game. Here’s how both sides could line up for the clash on Tuesday evening.
The Foxes are hitting a good patch of form after securing a win in each of their last three matches across all competitions. With the 4-3-3 formation working in the favour of Brendan Rodgers, it’s expected he’ll stick to it for the tie against the Londoners.
Kasper Schmeichel is likely to once again operate in goal, being an ever present in the side. Wesley Fofana is expected to partner Jonny Evans in the heart of the defence, with James Justin and Timothy Castagne taking place on the outskirts of the backline. Caglar Soyuncu and Ricardo Pereira are options for Rodgers but neither are ready to play a full 90 minutes.
Sitting in the front of the backline may well be midfielders Wilfred Ndidi alongside Youri Tielemans. With Dennis Praet out for three months, this will be Leicester’s best option for the midfield pairing. The player who opened the scoring in the last game - James Maddison - is presumed to play higher up the pitch rather than in a deeper role as he looks to cause havoc for the Chelsea defense.
Marc Albrighton and Harvey Barnes could be prsent on each flank. With both of them being on the score sheet in the past two games, it’s hard for Rodgers to drop the pair. It’s expected Jamie Vardy will take place up top for the Foxes. There was a moment of worry as he came off injured against Southampton, but Rodgers has confirmed he should be fine for Tuesday’s tie.
Starting XI: Schmeichel; Justin, Fofana, Evans, Castagne; Tielemans, Ndidi, Maddison; Albrighton, Vardy, Barnes.
Frank Lampard’s preferred formation for his side is 4-3-3 and it’s expected he’ll play with the same shape as he did against Fulham.
Edouard Mendy is likely to take place in goal, having established himself as the number since joining from Rennes. Despite Andreas Christensen recovering from an injury, the center-half pairing is expected to be Kurt Zouma and captain Thiago Silva. Cesar Azpilicueta could make way for Reece James on the right side whilst former Fox - Ben Chilwell - is likely to start in the left-back position.
N’Golo Kante is out through injury, meaning Jorginho is likely to continue in midfield. Alongside him may well be English youngster, Mason Mount, and Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic.
After Chelsea’s tight 1-0 win against Fulham on Saturday, Lampard admitted that Callum Hudson-Odoi should have started so he’s expected to start on the left-wing. On the other flank, it’s likely to be summer signing, Hakim Ziyech. There has been competition upfront lately with Timo Werner being out of form, the former RB Leipzig striker was on the bench for their last game but could start on Tuesday evening.
Starting XI: Mendy; James, Silva, Zouma, Chilwell; Kovacic, Kante, Mount; Hudson-Odoi, Werner, Ziyech.
With both sides going for the glory, it will be fascinating to see how the game plays out and who will be in control. Chelsea desperately need to start putting a good run of form together but by no means will it be easy for them facing third place side Leicester.
Rodgers will be looking for the three points as he looks to keep up with the big boys.
2-1 Leicester