Chelsea vs Leicester City LIVE Football Score 18 May 2021

Chelsea take on Leicester City at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Tuesday, with both sides looking to increase their chances of finishing in the top four of the table in order to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Leicester defeated Chelsea 1-0 to win their first ever FA Cup at Wembley on Saturday, so it will be a quick turnaround for both teams.

Having missed the opportunity to move back above Leicester into third place in the table after losing 1-0 to Arsenal on Wednesday, the subsequent FA Cup final defeat to Leicester on Saturday has comfortably made this Thomas Tuchel’s most testing week since taking charge of Chelsea in January.

The German has undeniably made a superb impact since replacing Frank Lampard as manager, winning 17 of his 27 matches in all competitions while conceding only 13 goals in the process, but he needs to ensure that his side get over the line in terms of qualifying for next season’s Champions League. Should they miss out on a top four spot, the Blues would have a second bite at the cherry against Manchester City in the final of the Champions League at the end of May, but there are far from any guarantees against a side of Pep Guardiola’s calibre.

Chelsea’s performances in both of their recent defeats were not particularly bad by any means, with the Blues heavily dominating both the shot and possession counts, but Tuchel’s side lacked a touch of creativity and as a result could not find a meaningful response to a major error from Jorginho and a wondrous strike from Youri Tielemans respectively.

Tuchel will be demanding a major response from his players against the Foxes on Tuesday, then, with only a win ensuring that a top four position would remain in their own hands heading into the final day’s trip to Aston Villa, with the ominous rise of Liverpool in recent weeks creating the only remaining major sub-plot of the Premier League this season.

Leicester’s players, meanwhile, may have woken up on Sunday morning with a slightly sore head after celebrating the club’s maiden FA Cup triumph, but their attention must quickly return to getting over the line in terms of securing their qualification for next season’s Champions League. Like last season, Brendan Rodgers’s side have held onto a top four position for the vast majority of the campaign, so they will certainly not want to fall out at the final hurdle once again.

Rodgers and his players will have taken confidence from how defensively solid they were against Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday, with avoiding defeat on Tuesday enough to ensure that their destiny will remain in their own hands heading into the final day’s fixture against Tottenham Hotspur in front of a limited capacity at the King Power Stadium.

There is more than a small chance that they could be physically and mentally fatigued after the monumental effort they put into the final, though, with Chelsea also possessing greater squad depth to freshen things up if required. Rodgers may need to spring one of his trademark tactical surprises to improve his side’s probability of getting the point they require.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• Chelsea are winless in six Premier League fixtures against Leicester (D4, L2). Their 2-0 defeat at King Power Stadium in January was Frank Lampard’s final league match as manager of the Blues.
• Leicester are looking to complete their first league double over Chelsea since 2000-01.
• The Foxes have only won two of their past 29 away league games against Chelsea: 1-0 in December 2018 and 2-0 in September 2000 (D11, L16).

Chelsea

• The Blues must win their two remaining league matches to be guaranteed Champions League football next season.
• They are looking to avoid three successive defeats in all competitions for the first time since 2006.
• Chelsea haven’t lost their final home league fixture in any of the previous 18 seasons since a 3-1 defeat against Aston Villa in 2002 (W12, D6).
• They have kept 18 clean sheets in 26 games under Thomas Tuchel.
• However, the Blues have conceded the opening goal in their past two Premier League matches, having only done so in one of their first 15 top-flight fixtures under Tuchel.
• Chelsea have won just two of their seven midweek Premier League games this season, failing to score in four of the other five.

Leicester City

• Victory for Leicester on Tuesday would secure a top-four finish and Champions League qualification.
• The newly-crowned FA Cup holders have only lost once in their past 13 top-flight away fixtures, winning seven and drawing five.
• They have earned 38 points away from home this season, the third best record in the division behind the two Manchester clubs.
• However, Leicester haven’t won their final away league game in any of the past six seasons, losing the last four in a row.
• Leicester are on course to become the first side from outside the established big six to finish in the top five in successive seasons since Everton in 2008 and 2009.
• A goal for Kelechi Iheanacho on Tuesday would make him the first player in Premier League history to score on all seven days of the week in the same season.