It’s the second meeting in three years between Leicester and Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-finals and they lock horns once again at the King Power Stadium on Sunday.
The Blues secured a 2-1 win the last time the sides met; a Pedro goal in extra-time was the decisive moment and was a key victory leading to Chelsea’s eventual FA Cup triumph in 2018. Antonio Conte’s side beat Manchester United 1-0 in the Wembley final.
Hosts Leicester come into the last eight tie without having conceded a goal up to this stage but have struggled since the league restart. The Foxes with two points from games against Watford and Brighton; a disappointing return you might say as Brendan Rodgers’ side try to secure Champions League football for next season.
On the other hand, Chelsea come into the game with two wins from two including most recently beating Manchester City 2-1 in a key clash also, in the race for European places.
Frank Lampard was fortunate enough to lift the FA Cup four times as a player including scoring in the 2009 final against Everton.
Though, Leicester are yet to win the most decorated club competition in the world but have made the final four times. However, their last trip to Wembley was all the way back in 1969. The Foxes will therefore be hoping to rectify this stat during this season’s cup run and perhaps even go one better this time round.
In terms of head to head meetings between Leicester and Chelsea, in both league and cup meetings, the former hold the clear advantage. In fact Frank Lampard’s side have not beaten their midland counterparts since a 2-1 away win in September 2017.
Head-to-head:
01.02.20 Premier League Leicester 2-2 Chelsea
18.08.19 Premier League Chelsea 1-1 Leicester
12.05.19 Premier League Leicester 0-0 Chelsea
22.12.18 Premier League Chelsea 0-1 Leicester
18.03.18 FA Cup Leicester 1-2 Chelsea
13.01.18 Premier League Chelsea 0-0 Leicester
Team news:
Fikayo Tomori remains on the sidelines for Lampard’s side. Callum Hudson-Odoi is touch and go for the trip to the King Power on Sunday with the Chelsea boss stating that the young winger may not be match-fit in time.
Ricardo Pereira is set to be out indefinitely for Leicester, after suffering an ACL injury in the lead up to the restart. Daniel Amartey also looks set to miss out on the rest of the 2019/20 season as he continues to recover from having ankle surgery back in January.
Brendan Rodgers otherwise has a clean bill of health for the visit of the Blues in the FA Cup quarter-final tie.
Prediction:
Despite the head-to-head record with Chelsea, I see Leicester struggling in this one. Although this game represents a decent opportunity for the Foxes to reach the latter stages of the FA Cup with it being a home game, behind-closed-doors football means that so-called home advantage is pretty much out of the equation for now anyway. The visitors will simply have too much in my opinion and will advance to the semis.
Match preview written by Jack Mirkovic.