It was a tough game to endure for the Citizens as Chelsea’s victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup Semi-Final all but ended quadruple hopes for the soon to be crowned Premier League Champions. Man City were on route to an unprecedented quadruple trophy haul prior to the visit to Wembley. As a result of the defeat to their Premier League rivals, City will be unable to win all four of the major trophies available, despite collecting their first trophy of the season with 1-0 win over Tottenham in the Carabao Cup Final over a week later.
There was another blow for Man City after Kevin De Bruyne, one of their top players, suffered an injury and limped off the field with an ankle injury at the beginning of the second half of the match.
Inside the first six minutes, Chelsea had initially thought they went ahead, although the goal was quickly ruled out after the referee determined that Timo Werner was in an offside position. Chelsea remained dominant throughout the half. Their next chance came to Ben Chilwell, as he hit a close-range volley wide of the post following 19 minutes of gameplay.
In the second half, Chelsea scored less than 10 minutes following De Bruyne’s departure, after Werner set up Ziyech to slide home the winner. Zack Steffan, City’s deputising goalkeeper, was in a poor position which led to an empty net for Ziyech to finish.
“It was a good delivery and I put it in easy,” Ziyech was quoted as saying about his goal.
Now Chelsea are set to face Leicester City in the F.A. Cup final on May 15 and fans could not be more excited. OLBG’s expert football betting tips are suggesting Chelsea will come out on top, but the Foxes have been very impressive this season so it won’t be easy.
The Game stats
Chelsea and Leicester have gone head-to-head a total of 29 times with 9 draws. Overall, Chelsea have performed much better against Leicester. The team have won a total of 14 times, including 7 at home and 7 away.
Recently though, Leicester has proven a challenge to Chelsea. On 19 January 2021, Leicester beat Chelsea 2-0 while at King Power Stadium in Leicester. Before drawing 3 consecutive times, with a 2-2 in February 2020, 1-1 in August 2019 and 0-0 in May 2019.
Leicester City appear to be in a similar position in the league in comparison to last season, currently residing 4th in the table (Chelsea currently reside in 3rd). Leicester have won 19 games compared to Chelsea, who follow that number closely with 18 games. Based off this, you could say the teams are looking evenly matched. However, in terms of current form, Chelsea is looking far more formidable, winning four out of their last five games, in comparison to Leicester’s measly two.
The Player stats
When it comes to goals, Leicester’s Jamie Vardy is at the top, having scored 13 overall so far. There’s not much surprise there as Vardy is a strong player, having made 116 goals over his Premier League career with 242 appearances. He also won the Golden Boot in 2019/20.
Chelsea have relied less on individual performances and more of the collective with Tammy Abraham, Jorginho, Mason Mount and Timo Werner all contributing 6 goals each towards Chelsea’s league campaign.
When it comes to assists, Jamie Vardy reigns king with a total of 9. Again, he’s closely followed by two Chelsea’s players including Timo Werner with 8 and Ben Chilwell with 5.
Finally, Leicester lead when it comes to tackles with Wilfred Ndidi placing first with an astonishing 80, closely followed by two Chelsea’s players including N’Golo Kante at 79 and Mason Mount at 73.
So, who can we expect to win?
When compared, the two teams’ individual performances over the course of the 2020/21 league season have shown fans that with Leicester’s expansive style of play with 63 goals and Chelsea becoming more defensive minded with 18 clean sheets, this match up could be defined as being attack versus defence.