A big game awaits for both teams this evening, as Brendan Rodgers’ inform Leicester side take on a Chelsea side who are slowly finding their feet following a sticky batch of results during mid to late December.
The two sides currently sit six points apart in the league table with Chelsea in 7th and Leicester in 3rd with 29 and 35 points respectively.
A win for Leicester could take them top if first and second placed Manchester United and City drop points, while Chelsea would move one place up into sixth if Everton lose.
Rodgers was asked about what it would mean to him if the Foxes were to move to the top of the table and the Northern Irishman said he’d be happy to see his team there.
“We’d be very satisfied, I think until this point, the players have been outstanding in their application and their work so far. I’ve been really happy up until this point and I always say you have to maintain that hunger and desire if you want to stay within the top echelons of the league. But, my guys are competing and that’s all I can ask.”
He was then posed with questions regarding the availability of his players, most notably star striker Jamie Vardy, who came off with a suspected hip injury during his side’s 2-0 victory over Southampton at the weekend. Rodgers responded, saying the 34-year old is fit, but Dennis Praet is out and Nampalys Mendy is awaiting an assessment.
“Yes, Jamie [Vardy] is fit but Dennis [Praet] will be out for a period of time. Nampalys Mendy has a slight strain in his neck so we’ll see how he is but apart from that, everybody is fine.”
Vardy being available is a huge boost for the Foxes, the forward the joint-3rd top goal scorer in the league with 11 goals.
It’s not just Vardy however, that is Leicester’s biggest threat. The likes of Harvey Barnes and James Maddison have also been brilliant recently, with Barnes scoring four goals in his last five games.
Finally on Leicester, Rodgers was asked about the tightness of the top of the table compared to last season, the boss reiterating the importance of the desire to remain in such close competition.
“Naturally it is exciting, I think everyone likes to feel this competition and like you say, the points difference between everyone is very close. I’ll repeat again, you need desire if you want to stay at the top and thankfully that something my players have every single game and we’ll keep that up as we continue playing.”
Onto Chelsea now and a win for Frank Lampard’s side would see them win their third consecutive win in all competitions, the first time they will have won three in a row since November 24th.
Despite sitting 7th, Lampard insists that the team aren’t in too much trouble at the momentum.
“We just need to consider the games in front of us, try to win them and steadily push ourselves up the table. We’re not in a bad position, we’ve had a short bad period of form but if we can put wins together this month then the picture will change as it has done already very quickly this season.”
On Chelsea’s squad fitness front, Lampard confirms that there is one player that will no be available for tonight’s game.
“Christensen is available but N’Golo [Kante] unfortunately isn’t. His hamstring is not quite ready for this one and those are the two of note to report on.”

The Chelsea boss also spoke about Mason Mount, who has arguably been Chelsea’s most important player in recent games and was full of praise for what he offers to the team.
“I’m not sure how anybody could really criticise him of late. In the modern world, it’s really easy to hear them even if you don’t use social media and I felt that last season as well. “
“He’s the type of midfielder who does so much great work for the team off the ball, which maybe for the naked eye is not as exciting as an overhead kick or a triple stepover. He does the basics well, he moves the ball so quickly, he’s a great team-mate and we’ve seen recently that he scores goals and finds assists.”
“The critics are wrong, there’s no doubt about that. Anyone who understands or knows about football and watches Mason Mount play understands what an incredible talent he is.”
With the form that some players from both of these sides makes tonight all the more anticipated. It is safe to say whoever wins tonight will take so much confidence from their performance as both sides remain in contention to challenge for European football and perhaps even the Premier League title.