The mood at Chelsea has shifted from overwhelming pessimism to fruitful optimism in one week, with Stamford Bridge overseeing two pivotal victories against Leeds United in the Premier League and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, with the latter advancing the Blues to the quarter-finals.
Graham Potter had led his side to a dismal run of two victories from 15 matches across all competitions before the succession of wins, with Chelsea still mired in the mediocrity of tenth place in the league, an alarming 11 points adrift of Tottenham Hotspur in fourth.
With a trip to the King Power Stadium to face Leicester City forthcoming this afternoon, with the Foxes two points above the relegation zone and desperate for a slice of respite, the west London outfit will need to ensure the recent good fortune emerges as a timely purple patch to lay the foundation for a run of form that can be sustained over the business end of the campaign, after money was pumped in on the transfer front this January by affluent owner Todd Boehly.
Reece James is expected to be absent due to injury, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Raheem Sterling – who netted against the Yellow Wall earlier this week – are also sidelined.
How will Chelsea line up against Leicester?
With this in mind, here is the predicted line-up that Football FanCast expects Potter to field for the crucial clash, with as many as three alterations from the preceding winning formula.
(3-4-3) (GK) Kepa; (CB) Fofana, (CB) Koulibaly, (CB) Badiashile; (RWB) Loftus-Cheek, (CM) Kovacic, (CM) Fernandez, (LWB) Chilwell; (RW) Ziyech, (CF) Havertz, (LW) Felix.
Kepa Arrizabalaga will continue to deputise between the sticks, having kept four clean sheets from his past seven league outings.
At the back, Benoit Badiashile could return after being omitted from the Champions League squad after his £35m winter arrival, with summer signings Wesley Fofana and Kalidou Koulibaly completing the back three; £60m summer signing Marc Cucurella might start this one on the bench, having been lauded as “top level” by Fabrizio Romano for his display in midweek, to rest.
With James not expected to feature, Ruben Loftus-Cheek may well adopt the role down the right flank, with Cesar Azpilicueta’s status still unknown following his concussion three weeks ago; Ben Chilwell will hope to impress once more on the alternate side following his good form.
In the centre, Mateo Kovacic and Enzo Fernandez will hope to nurture their collective understanding, respective skill sets seeming to meld well since the Croatian’s return from injury, interestingly coinciding with the upswing in form.
With Sterling injured, Hakim Ziyech might be deployed on the right wing, with £10m loan signing Joao Felix bringing dynamic flair on the left.
Up front, Kai Havertz will hope to build upon his goalscoring performance against Dortmund several days ago, with his seven seasonal strikes the joint-highest in the Chelsea squad.
