Our Premier League Feature Match for this week was Leicester v Chelsea.

Chelsea:

• 13 Caballero
• 24 James
• 4 Christensen
• 2 Rüdiger
• 28 Azpilicueta
• 7 Kanté
• 5 Jorginho (Booked at 56mins-Substituted for Kovacic at 74′minutes who was Booked at 76mins)
• 20Hudson-Odoi
• 19Mount
• 11Pedro(Substituted for Willian at 74′minutes)
• 9Abraham(Substituted for Barkley at 83′)

Leicester

 

• 1 Schmeichel
• 21Ricardo Pereira
• 6 Evans(Booked at 90mins)
• 4 Söyüncü
• 3 Chilwell
• 20 Choudhury
• 17 Pérez
• 8 Tielemans (Substituted forPraet at 80mins)
• 10 Maddison (Booked at 61mins)
• 15 Barnes
• 9 Vardy (Substituted for Iheanacho at 80mins)
  

 

We had this down as being a draw, albeit 1-1, however it turned out to be a 2-2 non-classic.

Whilst news outlets, such as the BBC described the affair as ‘entertaining’, we described it as an encounter between two football teams that are struggling for consistency.

Yes, the game was punctuated by goals, 4 in all. However, there was a fair bit of less than stellar play. Brendan Rogers praised the mental attitude of his team, which is another way of saying ‘sticking to the task when things aren’t so easy’.

Whilst Leicester had the home advantage, recent uneven results meant that it was unsure whether we would see the good Leicester, or the bad. Whichever Leicester took the field it was a team that would be searching for the type of confidence that comes from winning. Chelsea, mirrored the same emotions. They have been a team that flatters to deceive, as they adjust to life under the Lampard reign.

It cannot be doing wonders for a team’s morale, when your manager, Lampard, bemoans the fact that the team didn’t strengthen during the recently closed transfer window. It’s kind of another way of saying ‘This team needs better players to challenge’. And, to some extent, that is correct. However, comments such as this probably would dent your team’s confidence a bit.

With the background aside, this was a see-sawing match. Rudiger put the Blues ahead, only to be cancelled out by Barnes 8 minutes later. Then, Chilwell put Leicester ahead, only for Rudiger to register his 2nd of the night, and a draw for both teams.

Of course, when you have two top four teams going head to head, you would expect the result to be tight…and it was. However, putting the supremacy of Liverpool aside, gone are the days, seemingly, of top four teams dominating the results. Both Chelsea, and Leicester, have much to do in order to grow into title contending outfits.

When it comes to the man of the match award, it must go to Frank Lampard. The way that Frank interrupted Roger’s press conference after the game was pure gold. If anything could take the wind out of the sails of the Leicester manager, this was it! The only response that Rogers could manage was to say that Lampard must have been late for his flight! If only Chelsea could have matched the tenacity of their manager….well done Frank!