Although Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez absorb the majority of the praise directed at Leicester, their bursting runs in-behind the backline wouldn't be possible if not for Daniel Drinkwater and N’Golo Kante, two players Chelsea must target at the King Power Stadium on Monday night.
Chelsea's confident victory over Porto in midweek offers hope for a league revival; Nemanja Matic and Ramires dominated midfield and Diego Costa showed tentative signs of returning to form
Their confident victory over Porto in midweek offers hope for a league revival; Nemanja Matic and Ramires dominated midfield and Diego Costa showed tentative signs of returning to form. All three players will be crucial in stunting Leicester’s long-ball style, and finding the breakthrough at the other end.
Drinkwater attempts 9.0 long passes per game, hitting his target 49% of the time; these are not hoofed clearances, but carefully hooked passes over the opposition defence for Vardy to burst onto. All three of his assists have come from this type of pass, and the vast majority of Leicester’s goals are initiated by a long ball – often played after the agile Kante has wriggled free and created space for his midfield partner.
Jose Mourinho will know that his team must press these two; expect Ramires to charge out from midfield (he attempted 13 tackles against Porto), but he will need help from Costa - dropping in to prevent the early release from Drinkwater. The off-the-ball work-rate of Chelsea’s more advanced players will be crucial. Since Oscar is not adept at tackling in the centre of the park (he missed five of six tackles attempted in his last two league games) the shuttling movement of Ramires will be particularly important.
But Mourinho will be expecting his team to build upon their win on Wednesday, not least because Costa is beginning to look like his former self. His runs into the channels helped stretch the Porto defence, and offered Willian and Eden Hazard an incisive passing option; a key reason for Chelsea’ tepid attack this term has been the isolation of their creative players, with options to split the defence rarely opening up.
It is this kind of movement that could trouble Leicester, since neither Wes Morgan nor Robert Huth are particularly quick or agile. However, Leicester’s defence has been improving significantly in recent weeks since new signing Christian Fuchs has entered the team at left-back. Jeffrey Schlupp has featured at left-back in five of the six matches this season in which Leicester have conceded two or more goals, and in the five games since the 2-2 draw with Southampton on Fuchs’ debut, they have conceded just two goals. He will need to be in commanding form to prevent a resurgent Chelsea from scoring.
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