Chelsea: Four things to look for in home opener against Leicester City

Chelsea face Leicester City at Stamford Bridge for their first home game of the season. Here are a few things to look for.

Chelsea take on Leicester City for their third game in seven days, hoping to get their first win of the season on Frank Lampard’s return to Stamford Bridge. These will be a few keys to victory for the Blues.

1. How will Chelsea cope with Leicester’s forwards

A week after being torn limb from limb by the strike partnership of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, Chelsea’s backline will be put to the test again on Sunday, this time by Jamie Vardy and Ayoze Perez.

While the Leicester duo aren’t as highly touted as the Manchester United pairing, they’ve both found the back of the net on multiple occasions against Chelsea.

Given their inability to cope with the pace of Rashford, the presumptive pairing of Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen could similarly struggle to contain Vardy. Perez was an underrated signing from Newcastle, and had the best season of his career as a second striker behind Solomon Rondon.

The interplay between Vardy and Perez isn’t a sure thing yet. Then again, neither is Chelsea’s defense. Whoever can gain the upper hand this weekend will likely take the three points.

2. What does N’Golo Kante have left in the tank

N’Golo Kante stood head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch in the Super Cup (metaphorically, obviously), constantly winning the ball high up the pitch and charging forward with the ball to initiate counterattacks. As an aside, he’s starting to look like the N’golo Kante that Maurizio Sarri was trying to create. Take that for irony.

Like most of Lampard’s first choice players, Kante played a full 120 minutes against Liverpool, and his minutes are probably still being monitored off the back of his recent injuries.

Against an exceptionally dangerous set of attacking midfielders in Youri Tielemans and James Maddison, Kante’s relentless pressure will be the key to controlling the middle of the park, but expecting him to repeat his virtuoso performance from Wednesday might be asking a bit much.

Kante will always give you absolute maximum effort on the pitch, so Lampard may have to use him sparingly on Sunday to avoid reaggravating any of his recently-healed injuries.

3. The striker question

Frank Lampard’s early promises to integrate youth into Chelsea’s first team weren’t just for publicity’s sake. We’ve now seen competitive football from Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, and Fikayo Tomori, with Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi poised to earn minutes in the near future.

Abraham, specifically, was a major topic of conversation after the Super Cup loss to Liverpool, for reasons both good and bad (along with some absolutely horrible reasons, which is a whole different conversation).

His… complex… performance overshadowed the fact that Olivier Giroud was excellent before being replaced by Abraham in the 74′. The Frenchman’s ability to occupy defenders and create open space for Pedro and Christian Pulisic, not to mention getting in behind the backline for the first goal, was a big reason why Chelsea looked the better team for the entire first half.

Lampard will face a tough decision over whether to keep faith in the somewhat shaky up-and-comer, or fall back on the wily old veteran.

…Or Michy Batshuyai.

4. 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1

As the preseason progressed, it seemed like Frank Lampard slowly started to lean towards the 4-2-3-1 as his preferred formation, with the 4-3-3 falling by the wayside. Unsurprisingly, Chelsea lined up in the former against Manchester United last weekend. The results weren’t ideal.

In the Super Cup, however, the 4-3-3 made a comeback, with Lampard declining to field either of Ross Barkley or Mason Mount, both of whom started at Old Trafford. The less attacking midfield of Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho, and N’GOlo Kante was decidedly steadier, and was able to judiciously apply a high press that created several good attacking opportunities for the forward line.

Leicester City aren’t quite as intimidating going forward as Liverpool, but they are dangerous enough to require solid pressure in midfield. The 4-3-3 offers this in spades, but it would probably preclude both Mount and Barkley from starting.

However, since Chelsea are at home and Lampard is still looking for his first victory, he might want to step on the gas and send out a more attacking 4-2-3-1. If that’s the case, expect either Barkley or Mount in the No. 10 role, and a double pivot likely consisting of Kante and either Kovacic or Jorginho. The 4-2-3-1 seems to be Lampard’s ideal choice, but the 4-3-3 has proven to be the more pragmatic so far.

How Chelsea lines up on Sunday will say a lot about the current mentality of both the players and Lampard.