Chelsea vs Leicester: Predicted Foxes XI, injury news

Matchday four of the Premier League season sees winless Leicester City travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea. A match that will be vehemently contested.

Both sides come into Saturday’s 3pm kick-off with the hopes of a bonce back win and performance. The Foxes lost at home to fellow slow-starters Southampton, after once again being in a winning position. And Chelsea most recently suffered an extraordinary and unexpected 3-0 defeat at Elland Road to Leeds United.

This has the potential to be a very emotional contest, with Chelsea in the midst of an official bid of around £75million pounds to acquire 21-year-old centre back Wesley Fofana from Leicester. The intentions of the Frenchman have been clear, he is trying to force a move and is unwilling to participate with the senior squad’s actions. This resulted in him being dropped from the loss to Southampton.

At the pre-match press conference, Brendan Rodgers addressed the Fofana debacle as well as any injury concerns for the upcoming game. When asked about Fofana, Rodgers said: “He wont be available for the weekend. He has trained with our Under-21 squad.” The LCFC boss was also queried whether Fofana could potentially work his way back into the team:

"“If they’re not in the right frame of mind, we have to move on. The window will shut and then things will become clearer.” He also spoke about doubts over the availability of James Maddison, Rodgers said “He just felt a twinge when he was training yesterday.”"

Even with this information taken into account, it is highly likely that the boss opts for a more cautionary 3-5-2, unfortunately it will likely mean Harvey Barnes will miss out; one of the travelling side’s most dangerous counter attacking threats. This formation will probably be the selected set-up due to opposition the Foxes are playing. Rodgers also commonly attempted to match the Blues’ wing-back formation in previous encounters, by using an iteration of his own. Despite, in all honesty, not having the personnel currently available to apply it effectively.

Predicted Leicester City XI: GK: Danny Ward WB: James Justin, Timothy Castagne; CB: Daniel Amartey, Caglar Soyuncu, Jonny Evans (c); DM: Wilfred Ndidi, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall; AM: Youri Tielemans; ST: Jamie Vardy, Kelechi Iheanacho.