A new approach from Brendan Rodgers as he again changed his tactics, and without Youri Tielmans and also leaving out James Maddison it looked bold and dangerous and those answers came quickly.
Chelsea were of course favorites with a grand start to the season and their confidence were all over King Power Stadium, with former Leicester man Ben Chilwell coming close to scoring very early on.
With a 3-4-3 formation and Marc Albrighton surprisingly picked for the man marking on Ben Chilwell you have a very difficult job for the 32 year old flank man returning from injury and again a surprise pick from Brendan Rodgers. It could have gone all wrong with Chilwell outrunning Albrighton, but luckily Chilwell’s shot hit the bar.
We all know that set pieces and goals against is coming thick and fast for Leicester and with their sloppy defending approach in and around corners against, you will find that not very strange.
Embed from Getty ImagesWith the zone marking on corners not really working at all, Antonio Rudiger made the most out of a corner kick after 14 minutes with Jorginho blocking the area and giving the German international a chance to move into that open space and easily heading the ball into the net without being marked, a clever job by Thomas Tuchel who had seen this and done his homework.
Leicester did try and had a half opportunitiy from Jamie Vardy, but in the 28th minute N’Golo Kantè made a sprint towards Leicester’s goal and instead of passing shooting from distance and it went in behind Kasper Schmeichel. Chelsea were 2-0 up after 28 minutes and in real just one team on the field.
Leicester were without Youri Tielemans something that made it difficult to get anything out of the midfield area and with Kantè in there for Chelsea it was an unfair party.
Embed from Getty ImagesBrendan Rodgers made two changes coming in to 2nd half, Kelechi Iheanacho and James Maddison came on for Harvey Barnes and Ademola Lookman, Lookman who again scored in the first half but was in an offside position that should have been avoided with a higher concentration level from the player.
Leicester did have a better approach 2nd half. A shot from Daniel Amartey and a good run from Jamie Vardy with his pass close to reach Kelechi Iheanacho could have been converted, but Chelsea goalkeeper Mendy was unbeatable.
Then towards the end with Leicester trying to push for a goal, Chelsea did get their opportunities to score and finally one of their great attempts made it 3-0. Subs Pulicic and Ziyech combinations ended in a great goal after 71 minutes.
Chelsea dominated the game completely and a bit scary to watch from a Leicester point of view, defeated 3-0 at home and not really with a chance to win. The talk from Brendan Rodgers after the game was strange as this Chelsea team was held to a 1-1 draw in their last home game against Burnley, and to lose 3-0 to any team at home is a disaster. Leicester did win 1-0 against Chelsea a few months back winning the FA Cup final, that just tells a story that Chelsea have moved forward and Leicester at the moment are far from doing that.
Embed from Getty ImagesLeicester will play Legia in midweek and take on Watford at home in their next two fixtures, hopefully something will change or this could end in a very different way than expected.
- Positives
- Daniel Amartey, Leicester’s best player today
- Negatives:
- Rodgers again chopping and changing, systems and players
- Albrighton vs. Chilwell, why on earth do you make such an error
- Albrighton came into the team after being left out for such a long time, looked rusty, bad judgement
- Lookman again out of concentration as he goes offside in vital situations
- Daka not involved again, strange also to see Maddison dropped when you are without Tielemans
- Corners against, zone marking, rubbish defending and not able to close down gaps inside your own penalty box, madness
- Rudiger scores his 4th goal against Leicester, in total he has scored 9 in all competitions for Chelsea.
Player Ratings: Schmeichel 5, Amartey 6, Castagne 5, Evans 5, Soyuncu 5, Soumare 4, Ndidi 5, Vardy 6, Barnes 4, Lookman 5, Albrighton 4, Subs: Maddison 5, Iheanacho 4, Dewsbury-Hall
Embed from Getty Images- Leicester City, Man of the Match
- Daniel Amartey
Match Stats (H/A):
- Possession: 38 / 62
- Corners: 10 / 5
- Shots on target: 3 / 5
- Fouls: 15 / 8
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