Leicester vs Chelsea – Team News: Joao Felix gest surprise start | OneFootball

Chelsea face Leicester at the King Power Stadium in just under an hour, and the teams are in!

This was always bound to be an interesting selection because of the international break only just having ended, but even given that this is a fascinating selection.

With Reece James injured and Malo Gusto clearly not fit either, Enzo Maresca is forced into changes in the back line.

It looks like Wesley Fofana will play at right back, with Benoit Badiashile and Levi Colwill in the middle and Marc Cucurella at left back. Although it’s certainly not impossible that Badiashile is on the right and Fofana stays in the middle with Colwill.

In midfield, Enzo Fernandez comes into the team to play alongside Moises Caicedo, despite both having featured for their countries on international duty and having had minimal training time.

Up front there’s a real twist – Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer are flanked by Noni Madueke and Joao Felix. Pedro Neto, who was expected to start, is not in the team.

We should have too much firepower for Leicester, but 12.30 kick offs after an international break are always a little strange, and the changes to our regular team which we’ve made will compound that. We need full focus from all the players out there if we want to avoid a damaging defeat in a game which we should be winning.

3 points here puts Chelsea ahead of the chasing pack ahead of the weekend, and gives us a nice start to an intense period with tons of games stacking up.

This match may be won or lost in the subs, with plenty of talent on our bench. But if Romeo Lavia isn’t fit to play at least half an hour, we’ve got concerns.

Here are the full team line-ups for Leicester vs Chelsea (kick off at 12:30 GMT)

CHELSEA: