Chelsea will play their second game of the Frank Lampard era on Sunday at Stamford Bridge and it would be hard for it *not* to go better than the first game. In Chelsea’s opening game of the year they were blitzed 4-0 by rivals Manchester United giving the impression that the Blues might not be a top four team this season. Leicester City opened their campaign in the Premier League with a scoreless draw against Wolverhampton. Leicester finished in 9th place in the Premier League last year and the hope is for an even higher finish this year. They’re a long way from a reprise of their 2016 Premier League title but they’d like to get out of the holding pattern that has had them finish no higher than 9th since then.
Chelsea has played since their EPL opener, losing in a UEFA Super Cup matchup against Liverpool. Their performance had definitely improved since the Man U loss and the defending Champions League winners needed penalty kicks to prevail. Chelsea now has a chance to find their footing in the Premier League as the schedule becomes much more favorable. After this game, they’ll play at Norwich City and home to Sheffield United and the full 6 points against these two newly promoted sides would not be an unreasonable expectation. They’ll then play at Wolverhampton before their next tough test at home against Liverpool.
Leicester City will travel to Sheffield United for their next Premiership action. They’ll then host AFC Bournemouth who finished #14 a year ago. Their next tough test will be on Saturday, September 14 when they travel to Old Trafford to play Manchester United. Like Chelsea, they’ll be hoping to get the full six points from their next two games.
Even before the two fixtures to start the Frank Lampard era they’ve struggled to find some measure of consistency. Overall, they’ve won just 2 in their last 9 in all competitions with a 4 in 7 run at Stamford Bridge. Things have gone better for them in Premiership play at home and they’ve won 6 of their last 8 in EPL action. Leicester City is also transitioning to a new manager as Brendan Rodgers is the top man. It’s been a revolving door since Claudio Ranieri who lasted only one more season after Leicester’s Premiership win. He was followed by Craig Shakespeare and Claude Puel. Leicester City has won only 1 of their last 6 in the Premiership but upset Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last season.
Chelsea should pull things together but with what will be perceived as a less challenging schedule on deck Frank Lampard might use the opportunity to tinker with his lineup. Leicester City was competitive against Chelsea last year so no reason to think they can’t do it again here.
