Knowing that their title chances have long since evaporated on all other fronts, Chelsea face a tough prospect when they host Championship leaders Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday.
The Blues fell woefully short in the EFL Cup final as a Virgil van Dijk goal in the 118th minute ended their chances of winning the trophy.
Sitting 11th in the Premier League table, Chelsea have little chance of making up enough ground to finish among the European places, so a run at domestic cup glory will have to suffice in the first season of Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge.
The Foxes are in pole position for promotion back to the Premier League as they sit top of the Championship table, but it has been a dogfight the whole way. Leicester are three points ahead of second-placed Leeds United and four ahead of third-placed Ipswich Town with nine games remaining in the league season.
Leicester City eliminated another Premier League team in Bournemouth from the FA Cup in the previous round, while before that they advanced past Millwall and Birmingham City. They gave Liverpool a good run earlier in the season in the third round of the EFL Cup, but went down 3-1 thanks to two goals from the Reds in the final 20 minutes.
USA: Click here to see the latest odds for Chelsea vs Leicester City and bet on FA Cup matches
Chelsea vs Leicester City prediction, odds
- Lean Money Line: Chelsea (-225)
- Score prediction: Chelsea 3-1 Leicester City
For some reason, Chelsea seem to have better consistency in domestic cup tournaments than in the league, with the Blues having reached the semi-finals of this competition in five of the last seven seasons, in addition to their trip to the final of the EFL Cup earlier this year as Good.
The Blues took care of fellow Championship challengers Leeds United in the previous round, although they were nervous throughout, so they should have the ability to beat the Foxes here, who will attack the game in a similar manner to counterattack.
| BetMGM (USA) |
|
| chelsea victory | -225 |
| Draw | +375 |
| leicester victory | +575 |
| Both teams to note Y/N |
-145 / +105 |
| Below 3.5 goals |
+120 / -175 |
| Chelsea to advance |
-500 |
| leicester to advance |
+320 |
Chelsea vs Leicester City match details
- Date: Sunday, March 17, 2024
- Start time: 12:45 pm local (8:45 am ET / 5:45 am PT)
- Location: Stamford Bridge (London, England)
- Referee: Andy Madley VAR: Miguel Oliver
- Last meeting: Leicester City 1-3 Chelsea (March 11, 2023 | Premier League)
The best bet for Chelsea vs Leicester City
- Choose: Less than 9.5 total corners
- Odd: -115 (BetMGM)
Chelsea have been really terrible at set pieces this year, and it’s just not their style of play: they sport a putrid 3.32 xG on corner kicks this season, generating just 35 shots from 132 shots. The Blues know this and therefore do not play to win corners as they sit 13th in the Premier League. They, in turn, don’t concede many either, with their opponents’ 133 corners ranking sixth-fewest in the EPL.
Leicester City’s profile is exactly the same: they do not exactly play to get corners, being the fifteenth fewest in the championship, but they have also conceded the third fewest number. The team’s corner and set-piece taker, Kieran Dewsbury-Hall, has only 33 set-piece creation actions despite having taken 97 corners and 37 free kicks, a poor return for a player who is serving his layup efforts: His main free kick taker from the shooting positions is Harry Winks, so Dewsbury-Hall is there solely to feed a shot.
Leeds, who rank seventh in the Championship for corners won, earned just four against the Blues and conceded five, so it should be a manageable total. The under 8.5 mark with +150 odds is attractive, but buying additional wiggle room is valuable here.
Chelsea vs Leicester City midfielder bet
- Choose: Cole Palmer will score and assist a goal
- Odd: +495 (FanDuel)
While Cole Palmer was rested for the game against Leeds in the previous round, Mauricio Pochettino will know that with a place in the semi-finals on the line and his league in the bathroom, he cannot afford to leave his fittest playmaker on the bench. in the only possibility he has left of obtaining some competitive return.
Palmer has been electric this season, keeping Chelsea afloat and provoking their attack while other players falter. The Man City academy graduate has assisted eight goals this season in the Premier League, and in five of the seven games in which he set up a team-mate’s goal, he also found the net himself, including the previous match against Newcastle last weekend.
He has produced at least two shots and two key passes in three of Chelsea’s last four league games, averaging a combined 0.79 xG+xA per 90 minutes. While Palmer’s chances of scoring or assisting inpidually are worthless, the combination of the two seems to generate a fair return against a Foxes team that can be beaten defensively.
Chelsea vs Leicester City live stream, TV channel
| television channel | Transmission | |
| USA | — | ESPN+ |
| Canada | sportsnet | Sportsnet now |
| United Kingdom | BBC one | BBC iPlayer, BBC app/website |
The exclusive broadcaster of the FA Cup in the United States is ESPN, which broadcasts all matches of the 2023/24 competition on its streaming service. ESPN+.
In Canada, the match is available on all Sportsnet channels and platforms, while in the UK it will be broadcast on BBC One, with streaming available on their platforms.
