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Frank speaking. “We were beaten by a better team. They were sharper than us, ran more than us, showed moments of quality, they look a team in form, we look a team out of form. Sleeping moments. The sharpness wasn’t there. Sometimes that relates to poor form, but those are moments where you have to dig in, and the basics are to run and to sprint and to cover ground, and too many of our players didn’t do it. The basics off the ball are important. Our game on the ball was OK at times. I thought it was a penalty, I’ve seen them given, but I’m not going to lean on that decision, our game wasn’t there. It’s a loss. It’s a small step backwards. I’m worried. We should be better than five losses in eight. It takes character to turn from that. But we had quite a young team today. They won’t be feeling nice. I’m not against the lads in the dressing room there, because they’re disappointed and learned a lesson. You’ve got to get yourself out of that hole.”
Brendan Rodgers’ verdict. “It was a very good performance. As a team collectively we were excellent. A real threat. Harvey Barnes was sensational, really exciting. Last 15, 20 minutes of the first half, they started getting some combinations, so we changed our defensive shape in the second half and still looked very dangerous in moments. I thought we really deserved it. The players have won a lot of games against the big opponents. They showed a lot of maturity. It was a really good, professional performance.”
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Leicester’s man-of-the-match James Maddison speaks to Sky. “It sounds nice, the top of the Premier League! Probably for only 24 hours, but it’s a good one psychologically because we’ve worked hard and it’s halfway through the season now and we’re sitting top. It’s one we can build on. I don’t think you’ve seen a better performance from us this season. It’s had everything. Tactical nous, a bit of quality when needed, we worked hard to stifle the opposition’s threat, I thought we did that brilliantly. You don’t play for Brendan Rodgers if you don’t do the dirty work. You can’t carry anyone in this league. We want to stay up there. That team spirit will continue, and we’ll try to stay up there.”
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A thoroughly deserved victory for Leicester, who must be considered serious title contenders now. They are top, after all. For those who like omens, it’s their first win in this particular fixture since the season they won the league. From Chelsea’s point of view, that was the match that ended their second Mourinho era. Hmm. They drop to eighth after today’s fixtures, three points behind West Ham, who leapfrogged them after their victory against West Brom.
FULL TIME: Leicester City 2-0 Chelsea
Leicester go top of the Premier League! Chelsea meanwhile head back down the M1 in a pensive mood.
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90 min +2: Some space for Ziyech on the right. He works it back onto his left foot, but that gives Leicester a little time to close him down, and his eventual shot squirms harmlessly into the arms of Schmeichel.
90 min +1: Chelsea get out of their final third. But, well, y’know.
90 min: Nothing comes of the resulting free kick, but Chelsea can’t get out of their final third. There will be three added minutes.
89 min: Justin spins Ziyech down the left, a brilliant turn that has his opponent floundering. Ziyech is forced to take a booking for the team, clipping his heel just before he makes it into the box.
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88 min: Vardy is replaced by Iheanacho.
87 min: Nope, it’s no goal. It was a lot closer than it looked to the naked eye, but the VAR rulers confirm the luckless Werner was a few millimetres offside. His luck will turn sometime, he’s too good for it not to.
86 min: Ziyech whips an inswinger into the box. Werner sticks out a leg and guides cleverly into the bottom right. But when your luck’s out, it’s really out, and the flag goes up for offside. VAR will double-check, though.
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85 min: Pulisic turns on the jets and makes good down the left. He cuts inside, forcing Fofana to bundle him over. A booking, a free kick, and a chance for Chelsea to put it into the mixer.
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84 min: Perez battles and wins a free kick out on the right. The hosts load the box. Tielemans takes. Chelsea clear, but only after passing up three separate chances to do so. The lack of confidence is apparent.
82 min: Another wasted corner for Leicester. It’ll happen one day.
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81 min: Castagne rolls a delicious pass down the inside right to split the Chelsea defence and give Vardy something to chase. Vardy enters the box, drops a shoulder to see off Rudiger, but then takes a heavy touch that denies him a shooting opportunity, Mendy coming out to claim.
79 min: If Leicester close this out, it’ll be the first time Brendan Rodgers, who earned his coaching stripes at Stamford Bridge, has got the better of his alma mater. His current record: 15 games, zero wins, eight draws, seven defeats.
77 min: Leicester make a double change. Off go Maddison and Albrighton, on come Perez and Ricardo.
75 min: On the touchline, poor Frank, now resembling a drowned rat because managers aren’t allowed the benefit umbrellas ever since the great Steve McClaren debacle, continues to grimace in existential pain. On that subject, here’s Ian Burch: “As someone who went to every one of Chelsea’s 20 odd game winless streak in the 1987-88 season, I can remember the clamour for the removal of the then manager, Chelsea legend, John Hollins. The chorus of ‘Hello, hello, Holly must go’ was being sung before, during and after each game. Unsurprisingly, Ken Bates turned a deaf ear to all of this even though the manager was clearly not up to the task. There’s every chance Lampard will be shown the door when Chelsea inevitably tumble out of the Champions League next month, however Hollins still kept his job after a 4 -0 defeat at Swindon in the Simod Cup so there’s still hope for Frank.”
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73 min: Werner and Kovacic work the ball at speed, left to right, releasing Ziyech into space. Ziyech runs clap-bang into Justin, and it’s a free kick to Leicester. Nothing’s working for Chelsea.
71 min: Werner dances down the left and feeds Pulisic, who enters the box before going over under pressure from Castagne. The referee points towards the spo... no, he’s signalling a goal kick. Castagne had played the ball off Pulisic, who subsequently fell to earth.
69 min: The world’s biggest rain cloud breaks over the King Power. All of a sudden, it is lashing down.
67 min: Hudson-Odoi drops a shoulder to gain a yard on Justin down the right, but his cross is an easy pluck for Schmeichel. That’s his last act of the evening: he’s replaced by Ziyech, while Havertz makes way for his compatriot Werner.
66 min: Chelsea continue to hog the ball. Leicester continue to hold their shape.
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64 min: Fofana channels his inner Beckenbauer and sashays down the inside-right channel, eating up about 60 yards in elegant style. He eventually runs out of space, but consider it art for art’s sake. There’s so much potential in this young defender.
62 min: Vardy is currently giving poor Silva an old-school working over. A nudge in the back as they contest a high ball in mid-air; a deliberate, snide nick on the heel to remove a boot. Silva is incensed that the referee is clocking none of it. Depending on your footballing philosophies and moral outlook, it’s either despicable behaviour or highly amusing slapstick. Both opinions are valid.
60 min: The visitors have had 72 percent of possession since the break, but it’s Leicester who have gone closer to scoring.
59 min: Chelsea stroke it around in the middle of the park. Leicester seem quite happy to leave them to it.
57 min: Leicester again go close to a third, breaking up a Chelsea attack and countering, Vardy romping down the right, then slipping a diagonal ball to release Tielemans into the box. Tielemans takes a touch that makes the angle a little difficult for himself, but take nothing away from Mendy’s subsequent block. It’s kept Chelsea in this game.
55 min: After some penalty-box pinball and a cute Maddison dink, Leicester have the ball in the net again, Albrighton swivelling on the penalty spot and lashing a Vardyesque shot into the bottom left. But he knew he was offside, and there’s no surprise when the flag goes up.
54 min: James curls in from the right. Fofana reads the danger well, eyebrowing out for a corner with Mount, Havertz and Abraham lurking. Mount swings the corner in from the left. It hits James, standing in the six-yard box, and drops into Schmeichel’s arms. Fofana is a proper talent.
53 min: Chilwell bowls over Albrighton on the right. Maddison takes the free kick. Evans wins a header, but can only send the ball looping into the arms of Mendy.
52 min: Kovacic is booked for an overly forceful lunge at Maddison, who was in the process of breaking upfield at speed.
51 min: Chelsea go up the other end, Abraham making a determined run down the right, and seeing his low drive deflected by Fofana’s magnificent last-minute slide. Abraham meets the resulting corner, but plants his header straight at Schmeichel.
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50 min: It should be 3-0. Albrighton curls deep from the right. James is on walkabout, and Justin is free on the edge of the six-yard box. He heads down, unchallenged, but sends the ball inches wide of the left-hand post.
49 min: Lampard prowls the touchline. Arms folded tightly, and a hard stare that Paddington would be proud of.
47 min: Some sterile midfield possession for Chelsea. Baby steps as they attempt to work their way back into this game.
The second half begins. Leicester get the ball rolling again. No changes by either side. “The NBC crew is tearing at Frank’s carcass during half-time, even chipper Rebecca Lowe,” reports Mary Waltz. All of which might explain why fellow US resident Rob Coughlin asks: “Quick question, who will be out of a job sooner, Trump or Frank?”
(Non) controversy corner. A few folk wondering why Jamie Vardy wasn’t penalised for his initial role in the second goal, when he came back from what looked like an offside position to contest Kasper Schmeichel’s goal kick. To quote the laws of the game: “There is no offside offence if a player receives the ball directly from: a goal kick; a throw-in; a corner kick.” (To those who emailed: don’t worry, there’s no name-and-shame culture on the MBM, in fact we’ve already forgotten about it.)
HALF TIME: Leicester City 2-0 Chelsea
The thin lines between success and failure, huh. Chelsea thought they had a penalty to equalise at 1-0, only for Mr VAR to get the magnifying glass out and spot that the foul was just outside the box. After the free kick was wasted, Leicester went straight up the other end and doubled their lead. Leicester are heading for the top, Chelsea destined for yet another frustrated journey home. One way or another, the second half could be very interesting indeed. No flipping!
45 min: Chilwell sticks one into the mixer from the left. Fofana overpowers Abraham in the middle to clear. There will be two added minutes.
44 min: That was astonishingly poor from Chelsea. Schmeichel’s goal kick caused a midfield stramash, and when the ball broke to Barnes, they were all over the shop and all bets were off. On first view, it looked like Vardy threw an elaborate dummy, but in fact he was pushed in the back by Rudiger, and there’s a fair chance he’d have won a penalty had Maddison not put the chance away.
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GOAL! Leicester 2-0 Chelsea (Maddison 42)
What a double whammy for Chelsea ... and what dreadful defending. Barnes loops a pass down the middle, hoping to release Vardy down the middle. Vardy ducks, confusing Rudiger behind him, and the ball bounces through to Maddison, in the box and just to the left of goal. Maddison opens his body and sidefoots confidently past Mendy.
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41 min: There’s an awful lot of faffing about as the Leicester wall is edged back to the regulation ten yards. Mount eventually takes. It’s a dismal hoick miles over the bar. Leicester breathe a huge sigh of relief, and then ...
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39 min: Evans’ boot was just in front of the white line, so the penalty decision is overturned by VAR. Just a free kick, albeit one in a very dangerous position, near the right-hand corner of the D, inches outside the box.
38 min: Mount slips a ball down the inside right channel for Pulisic. Evans sticks his leg out. Pulisic goes over, and the referee points to the spot. Penalty ... though VAR will check, because this is right on the line.
36 min: A replay of the Vardy run. It looked, to the naked eye, that he’d gone early, and any goal would have been chalked off for offside. But Rudiger was lurking deep infield, and we’ve been surprised before this season when Mr VAR gets his ruler out. Anyway, it’s all immaterial.
34 min: Vardy is released down the inside-right channel. He’s free on goal! He opts to chip Mendy, but doesn’t get quite enough on it, the keeper parrying with his fingertips, the ball squirting wide left. So close to doubling Leicester’s lead.
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33 min: Some space for Hudson-Odoi down the inside-right channel. He’s got options in the middle, but decides to go for it himself, and ripples the side netting.
31 min: Another Leicester corner. It’s now 0 goals from 98 for the season. Mendy launches long, hoping to release Pulisic on the counter. But Schmeichel has come all the way out to the edge of the centre circle (!) and clears with a spectacular diving header. That’s one for the showreel.
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29 min: Havertz is booked for a tug on Barnes’ shoulder, a mixture of cynicism and frustration.
27 min: But Leicester almost immediately come back at Chelsea, Castagne pressing hard and forcing a mistake out of Chilwell. Another corner. It is - thanks again to Sky for this - the 97th corner of Leicester’s season. After the set piece comes to nothing, their goals from corners stat reads: 0 from 97. That’s the worst in the entire division. Like they’ll worry about that if they go top tonight.
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26 min: Albrighton, the best part of 30 yards out, isn’t closed down so decides to have a dig. He sends a rising, swerving shot straight at Mendy, who tips over in slightly uncertain style. Nothing comes from the resulting corner.
24 min: Justin steals the ball from Hudson-Odoi and glides down the left. His deep cross nearly drops to Vardy, but Silva is well positioned and clears. A little more height on that cross and Chelsea were in a world of pain.
22 min: Chilwell dribbles down the left and slips the ball inside for Havertz, who can’t quite control in the box, allowing Evans to step in and shepherd the ball back to Schmeichel. Chelsea appear to have steadied the ship.
21 min: But then James plays a cute one-two with Hudson-Odoi down the right and bursts into the box. James reaches the corner of the six-yard box and has a whack from a tight angle. Schmeichel tips it over the bar, then deals with the resulting corner, punching clear. Much better from Chelsea, and a first shot across Leicester bow.
19 min: This is better from the visitors, a nice spell of possession in the Leicester final third. They work the ball efficiently from flank to flank and back, but can’t find the killer pass.
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18 min: Leicester are first to absolutely everything at the minute. The first couple of minutes seem an awfully long time ago.
16 min: Maddison is afforded way too much time to line up a shot from 25 yards, having been teed up by Castagne. He aims for the top right, and clips the top of the bar. Mendy wasn’t getting there had it been on target.
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14 min: A worrying stat for Chelsea flashed up by Sky: Leicester have scored first in the Premier League on nine occasions this season ... and have gone on to win all nine.
12 min: Chelsea’s heads are addled. Chilwell and Mendy hesitate over a ball that rolls slowly towards the Chelsea box. Mendy is reluctant to come out and get it, but Chilwell, back on his old stomping ground, freezes. Mendy is forced to hack clear. The ball is intercepted by Tielemans, and Chelsea are very fortunate that the Leicester midfielder wastes the opportunity to advance on goal with a poor pass upfield.
11 min: Maddison whips a dangerous corner into the mixer. Abraham is on point to send the ball away from danger.
10 min: Chelsea’s early verve is suddenly gone. Barnes wins a corner down the left. Chelsea desperately need to hold out here and regroup.
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8 min: If this game ends like this, Leicester go top. I’m willing to bet there haven’t been too many better goals scored since 1888 that have sent a team to the summit of English football.
GOAL! Leicester 1-0 Chelsea (Ndidi 6)
The free kick’s sent down the left to Barnes, whose deep cross is chested out for a corner on the right by Abraham. Leicester play it short between Maddison and Albrighton, the latter cutting back for Ndidi, who from the edge of the box creams a sensational first-time shot off the left-hand post and into the net. What a goal! Mendy had no chance, and was rooted to the spot.
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5 min: Maddison drives down the inside-left channel and draws a cynical heel clip from Mount, who can consider himself fortunate not to go into the book. Too early in the game for the referee’s liking perhaps. But no matter, because from the free kick ...
4 min: Barnes backs himself in a footrace with James down the left. He very nearly makes it into the box but loses control. The ball threatens to break to Justin, haring in from behind on the underlap, but Silva is on hand to intercept and knock clear. Both sides have come out on the front foot.
2 min: Chelsea hog the ball in the opening exchanges. They knock it long. Justin clears. They knock it long again, Silva hoping to release Pulisic down the middle this time. Castagne does well to come across and nip the danger in the bud. A positive start from the visitors.
Chelsea get the ball rolling ... but only after everyone takes the knee. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.
The teams are out! Leicester in their blue shirts, Chelsea sporting a change strip of very light blue. We’ll be off in a minute! Meanwhile here comes Neal Butler, mistiming his run by a couple of minutes: “Havertz/Kovacic/Mount really doesn’t seem like a terribly sturdy midfield. I’m beginning to worry that Lampard may not actually know what he’s doing. Still, at least Hudson-Odoi starts, though why Pulisic - who saw a lot of the ball, but did very little with it against Fulham - keeps his place is beyond me.”
Frank Lampard: a triptych. “That Chelsea line-up really looks like they’re going for it,” writes Keith Hennigan. “Not a deep lying midfielder to be seen! I know Kovacic and Mount get about a bit, but really. Let’s hope for their sake Leicester are no good in attack. Oh.”
Julian Menz adds: “So Lampard changes his forward line yet again, and that really doesn’t help any of his forwards find their rhythm. Halfway through the season, and he is still no closer to knowing his best team. That’s no good for him, his players, and Chelsea’s chances of securing a top-four place.”
And finally Mary Waltz: “What a difference a year makes. The hyenas are really snapping at Frank’s heels. Even I was surprised to hear ‘he wins today or he gets the axe’. Sheesh.”
Frank Lampard talks to Sky. “We’re coming to a really tough place, they’re playing really well. They’re a very accomplished team with a very good coach. But we have to believe in ourselves. We have a lot of energy in the team, different quality. Callum is effecting games more than ever, and that’s his development as a young player. His confidence is there. Kai as well. There’s clearly an adaptation period at such an age, but he’s playing really well in training. Some of our control against Fulham was a little bit safe, we didn’t do enough. There may be more space for us today. We have to be at our best.” Lampard also confirms that Olivier Giroud is out injured, having taken a “bang on the ankle” against Fulham.
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Some added incentive for Chelsea, should they require any. London rivals West Ham have just beaten West Brom 2-1, a result that sees the Hammers leapfrog them into seventh place. Chelsea need to win tonight to reclaim that spot on goal difference. Simon Burnton was watching that one; here’s how it unfolded in real time.
Brendan Rodgers speaks to Sky. “The team is in good form and we haven’t had to change it too much of late. But we know we will still need the squad this season, and it’ll be a really tough game tonight, and a quick turnaround in games, so we’ll definitely need the players on the bench. If you can be close to the top or at the top, it shows you deserve to be there and have been playing well. Tonight Chelsea are a talented team with good players, but we want to continue with our momentum. From an attacking perspective they look really strong, but we can play football as well. The players have shown real flexibility to play different games in different ways.”
Leicester are unchanged from the 2-0 win over Southampton. Jamie Vardy has recovered from a hip problem picked up against Saints and starts.
Chelsea make four changes to the side named for the 1-0 win at Fulham. Reece James, Kai Havertz, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Tammy Abraham take the places of Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Hakim Ziyech and Olivier Giroud. Misfiring striker Timo Werner once again has to make do with a place on the bench. Giroud is missing altogether.
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The teams
Leicester City: Schmeichel, Castagne, Fofana, Evans, Justin, Ndidi, Tielemans, Albrighton, Maddison, Barnes, Vardy.
Subs: Soyuncu, Ward, Iheanacho, Perez, Amartey, Under, Choudhury, Ricardo Pereira, Thomas.
Chelsea: Mendy, James, Thiago Silva, Rudiger, Chilwell, Havertz, Kovacic, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Abraham, Pulisic.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Christensen, Jorginho, Werner, Zouma, Ziyech, Gilmour, Azpilicueta, Emerson Palmieri.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire).
Preamble
Leicester City, champions of England in 2016, can leap back to the top of the Premier League this evening. All they have to do is beat Chelsea, who before an uncertain win against ten-man Fulham the other night, had lost their previous three away fixtures. The Foxes by comparison have their tails up, currently on a three-match winning run, and with seven wins and two draws in their last ten.
But the head-to-head gives Leicester something to think about. They’ve not lost any of their last five matches against Chelsea. However, four of those were draws, while Chelsea have won on five of their last seven visits to the King Power. It’s very much swings and roundabouts. Good luck calling it!
So will Leicester reach the summit? Will Chelsea nudge Everton out of sixth spot? Or will it be a narrative-shattering draw? We’ll find out soon enough. It’s on!
Kick off: 8.15pm GMT.
