Three reasons why Leicester can defeat Chelsea this weekend

Plenty of attention will be on Sunday’s clash between Manchester United and Liverpool, but Leicester versus Chelsea on Saturday night could be the game of the weekend.

The Foxes may sit well outside the top-half, but they showed last month against Manchester City that they can still beat anyone on their day.

And with Chelsea licking their wounds after defeat to Tottenham in their last Premier League outing, the reigning champions will be hoping to inflict more pain on Antonio Conte’s men.

So ahead of the clash at the King Power, we’ve laid out three reasons why Claudio Ranieri’s charges are worth backing…

Galvanise that home spirit

There’s nothing wrong with Leicester’s home form this season, and they’ve already claimed a draw and a win against Arsenal and Manchester City respectively.

Had they picked up just two away wins, the Foxes would sit comfortably ninth and their whole season would look very different indeed.

But with a bouncing crowd behind them the Foxes can beat anyone at home, and if they can channel the spirit shown against Man City, Chelsea should be very concerned.

Riyad Mahrez may be absent, but the performance showed versus Everton last weekend should install Ranieri with plenty of confidence throughout his squad to get at the league leaders.

Take advantage of Chelsea’s problems

It’s widely regarded that Gary Cahill is only in the Chelsea squad because Conte couldn’t bring in his chosen targets last summer.

The Englishman is an avenue Leicester can target through Jamie Vardy’s pace, while it’s amazed everyone that David Luiz has kept his cool thus far.

The Brazilian is known to get flustered, again offering the Foxes an opportunity.

And Conte has been forced to recall Nathan Ake from his-loan at Bournemouth due to concerns of Marcos Alonso.

Put it all together and there are glimmers of hope for Leicester that Chelsea’s defence won’t quite be as tight as it should be this weekend.

Make the most of your assets

With only three sides boasting a lower possession percentage than Leicester, and Chelsea owning one of the highest, you know who will be on the ball most this weekend.

But that can play beautifully into the Foxes’ hands. They proved last season possession isn’t the be all and end all of football.

Their finest performance of the season – the 4-2 win over Man City – saw the reigning champions claim just 22 per cent of the ball.

With the pace of Vardy, and likely starter Musa, Leicester are well set to do plenty of damage without needing the ball all the time.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing