Club football is back after the last international break for many months, and that means we’re about to enter the part of the season when titles can now not only be lost, but won as well.
No one’s ever won the Premier League in the fall, but the winter grind can often separate the contenders from the pretenders. And while this year’s title race seems close enough right now that it’s unlikely that any team would separate themselves from the chasing pack, it’s certainly possible to let it slip from our grasp.
That might sound dramatic, but it’s also precisely what we’re aiming for each and every season, including this year. This is exactly where we want to be. These are exactly the challenges we want to face, and the glories we want to achieve.
“If you are in the middle of it then it proves you are in the right place because we are in a club that wants to be in the middle of title races. [We] have to find consistence [and] we want to be in the middle of it.”
-Thomas Tuchel; source: Football.London
Let’s get stuck in the middle with yous!
Date / Time: Saturday, November 20, 2021, 12.30 GMT; 7:30am EST; 6pm IST
Venue: King Power, Leicester, England
Referee: Paul Tierney (on pitch); Jarred Gillett (VAR)
Forecast: Cool and a bit breezy
On TV: BT Sport 1 (UK); NBCSN, Universo (USA); Star Sports Select HD1 (India); SuperSport MaXimo 1, Canal+ Sport 3 (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: BT Sport Live (UK); NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); Hotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)
Leicester City team news: Leicester have had a fairly inconsistent season thus far, unable to put together a solid run of results until a four-match winning streak in all competitions last month, but which they have now followed up with three matches without a win (two draws). They’ve struggled at home, having won just two games at the King Power all season, the season opener against Wolves and the 4-2 win over Manchester United a month ago. They needed penalties to get past Brighton in the League Cup, and lost or drawn five other games (in all competitions) at home.
Having finished fifth in each of the last two seasons, that’s certainly a disappointing start for Brendan Rodgers & Co, good only for 12th place at the moment, though injuries to Youri Tielemans, Wesley Fofana, Marc Albrighton, James Justin and Ryan Bertrand (who joined from Southampton in the summer) haven’t helped. Still there’s plenty of solid talent in this team, including summer additions Boubakary Soumaré in midfield and Patson Daka in attack — both of whom were briefly linked with Chelsea as well — and we are sure to find the Foxes a big challenge, as usual.
Chelsea team news: It looked like our list of injured would be down to just one, but Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that neither Romelu Lukaku nor Timo Werner are fit to truly participate just yet. So they join Mateo Kovačić on the sidelines once again, which probably means another start up top for Kai Havertz, who’s overcome his thigh contusion. Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic should be back to full fitness as well.
We should also see, at long last, the debut of this year’s yellow away kit.
Chelsea’s seven-match winning streak ended in an unfortunate 1-1 draw against Burnley in the last game before the international break. That has kept us only three points clear at the top of the table, and it also ended our favorable schedule. We’re about to start finding out just how good this team might or might not be.
Previously: We’ve not had a good record against Leicester, having won just two of our eight meetings since Pedro scored a winning header (!) in extra-time of the 2018 FA Cup quarterfinals. Frank Lampard’s final Premier League match in charge was this fixture last year (2-0 defeat), while Leicester also eliminated us from last year’s FA Cup. Tuchel’s Chelsea did exact a measure of revenge in our 2-1 win at the Bridge that just about guaranteed a top-four finish in the penultimate game of the league — complete with some handbags at the end.
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