12′ James positions himself well to prevent Vardy winning a header in Chelsea’s penalty area. Leicester have been under pressure in the opening 10 minutes but appear to have ridden it out for now.
10′ Chelsea don’t achieve much with the corner but still have the ball. Pulisic sends Azpilicueta running down the right. Azpilicueta rolls an inviting cross in front of the six-yard box but Pulisic is a touch too slow to reach it.
8′ Kante jinks into the box and powers a shot at Schmeichel that the Leicester goalkeeper pushes aside. The ball comes back to Pulisic whose shot from the penalty spot goes over the crossbar. It’s taken a deflection along the way so Chelsea get a corner.
6′ James picks up possession deep in midfield and trundles a shot wide from outside the box. Leicester have barely had chance to breathe yet.
5′ Chelsea come on the attack again. Azpilicueta nearly latches onto a crossfield pass inside the box but the Chelsea captain can’t get his head onto the end of it.
3′ Chelsea aren’t messing around. They want vengeance. Werner darts through midfield and slips Chilwell into the left of the box. Chilwell shoots first-time and drags his shot just wide of the far post.
2′ Leicester win a free-kick down their right as Chilwell impedes Perez. Tielemans’ floater into the box is blocked. Albrighton, making his 200th Premier League appearance for Leicester here, picks up the pieces and his cross is cleared.
1′ The referee blows his whistle and the game gets underway! The Chelsea fans let out an almighty roar. It’s good to see and hear them again.
The two teams are out on Stamford Bridge. As it was at Wembley, Chelsea are in their traditional royal blue shirts and shorts, Leicester are in their maroon third kit, and there are fans in the ground.
Leicester have already beaten Chelsea twice this season, beating them 2-0 in the reverse fixture back in January before last weekend’s cup victory. A first league double over Chelsea since 2000-01 would be very welcome for them. Chelsea haven’t beaten Leicester in their last six Premier League meetings. Can Chelsea get revenge and dent Leicester’s Champions League hopes?
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel makes three changes to the side that lost 1-0 at Wembley three days ago. Mendy returns in goal while Chilwell and Pulisic replace Alonso and Ziyech. Brendan Rodgers makes two changes to Leicester’s 11 from that game. Albrighton replaces the injured Evans while Maddison starts ahead of Iheanacho.
SUBS: Danny Ward, Wes Morgan, Ricardo Pereira, Christian Fuchs, Kelechi Iheanacho, Dennis Praet, Daniel Amartey, Nampalys Mendy, Hamza Choudhury.
LEICESTER CITY (3-4-1-2): Kasper Schmeichel (c): Timothy Castagne, Wesley Fofana, Caglar Soyuncu; Marc Albrighton, Youri Tielemans, Wilfred Ndidi, Luke Thomas; James Maddison; Ayoze Perez, Jamie Vardy.
SUBS: Kurt Zouma, Tammy Abraham, Mateo Kovacic, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Hakim Ziyech, Olivier Giroud, Emerson, Marcos Alonso, Callum Hudson-Odoi.
CHELSEA (3-4-3): Edouard Mendy; Reece James, Thiago Silva, Antonio Rüdiger; Cesar Azpilicueta (c), N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, Ben Chilwell; Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner, Mason Mount.
A win for Chelsea here would allow them to leapfrog Leicester into third place and give the Blues a cushion on the final day. Victory for Leicester, meanwhile, would ensure a top-four finish for the Foxes for only the second time in the Premier League era. With a resurgent Liverpool coming up behind, this is a game that neither side can afford to lose.
Just a few days ago, Leicester defeated Chelsea at Wembley to win the first FA Cup in the club’s history. Now these two meet again in a match that will go a long way towards deciding who will finish in the top four and play in the Champions League next season.
Hello! Welcome to our live text commentary of this crucial Premier League match between Chelsea and Leicester City at Stamford Bridge.
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