Chelsea vs Leicester City

A place in the FA Cup semi-finals is up for grabs as Chelsea and Leicester City lock horns at Stamford Bridge in a ‘make or break’ quarter-final tie.

Despite beating fellow mid-table Premier League rivals Newcastle United 3-2 earlier this week, Chelsea finished the last round in the lower reaches, emphasizing the significance of lifting the trophy in football’s oldest cup competition. Mauricio Pochettino was inches away from winning his first title on English soil last month, but Liverpool toppled Chelsea 1-0 in the League Cup final. But the Blues could have another chance to climb to the podium at Wembley if they can only avenge a 1-0 defeat in the 2020/21 FA Cup showpiece. Since losing that title-deciding fixture, the West London heavyweights have gone into overdrive across their subsequent five encounters against Leicester (W4, D1). Back-to-back 3-2 home wins against Newcastle and Leeds United can only inspire more confidence around the home camp ahead of this crunch quarter-final clash.

In the meantime, Leicester City punched above their weight in the previous FA Cup round, eking out a 1-0 extra-time win against top-tier Bournemouth to set up this tie. However, Enzo Maresca’s men have since blown hot and cold across three Championship matches (W1, D1, L1), compromising their chances of securing direct Premier League promotion. Leaving the King Power Stadium has recently proved problematic for the Foxes, as they’ve delivered a mixed bag of performance across their last seven competitive away games (W3, D2, L2 – 90 minutes only). They’d probably settle for another 90-minute draw at Stamford Bridge, knowing they’ve not won at this venue since 2018. By extension, they’ve only claimed one win on their last 13 visits to West London (D4, L8).