The State of Play
Mauricio Pochettino is under pressure for his job at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea producing some magic in the FA Cup is perhaps the thing that could be his saving grace. The Blues remain in the bottom-half of the Premier League, despite their 3-2 defeat of Newcastle United on Monday evening but they are remarkably inconsistent, both in terms of general performances and results but also within games themselves.
Leicester City’s main priority this season was and remains to gain an immediate promotion back to the top-flight of English football with the Foxes currently sitting at the top-of-the-table in the Championship. Performances have perhaps tailed off a little in the last month or so but Enzo Maresca’s men are three points clear of second and four ahead of third with nine games to go and they will treat this one as a free hit.
Team News
Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea have had to deal with a long injury list throughout the campaign. They are still without the likes of Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Lesley Ugochukwu and Christopher Nkunku.
Enzo Maresca appears to have a few injury issues of his own this weekend as the likes of Kasey McAteer, Dennis Praet and Patson Daka all remain out injured for the Foxes.
Expected Line-ups
Chelsea: Petrovic; Gusto, Disasi, Chalobah, Cucurella; Fernandez, Caicedo; Palmer, Gallagher, Sterling; Jackson
Leicester City: Stolarczyk; Ricardo Pereira, Coady, Vestergaard, Justin; Winks, Ndidi; Fatawu, Dewsbury-Hall, Mavididi; Cannon
What they Said
Despite defeating Newcastle the other day, former Tottenham boss Pochettino was once again quizzed about his future but he was adamant and reiterated the fact he would ‘never’ resign from his role.
Enzo Maresca has name checked winger Stephy Mavididi for specific individual improvement, suggesting the former Montpellier man said “Stephy has to improve, a little bit, his body language.”
When and How to Watch
This match will be played at Stamford Bridge at 12:45 on Sunday March 17th and will be shown live on BBC One in the UK. It will also be streamed live via the BBC iPlayer app.
Prediction
In the previous round, Chelsea survived a scare against one of Leicester City’s second-tier title rivals, Leeds United, having to come from behind to win by three goals to two. The hosts generally lack control and cohesion all over the pitch and, whilst they remain favourites against a team with bigger things to play for, Leicester will still be more than confident of scoring so an entertaining Chelsea win would appear a good bet.