Chelsea predicted XI vs Leicester City: 22-year-old returns

Chelsea will aim to increase their lead at the Premier League’s summit this weekend when they travel to European hopefuls Leicester City.

The Blues have a three-point lead over Manchester City, which could have been five had they not drawn to Burnley before the international break.

Leicester, meanwhile, are only two points off sixth-placed Manchester United, despite being way down in 12^th.

Thomas Tuchel and Brendan Rodgers are already well acquainted, having faced each other twice last season, each with a win to their name.

Although the Foxes might be fumbling around in mid-table, Chelsea know they cannot be taken lightly.

So expect a pretty strong away side to walkout at the King Power on Saturday.

Here’s our predicted Blues XI:

We don’t see Tuchel making too many changes from the team that were held by Burnley nearly a fortnight ago.

Edouard Mendy remains in goal, whilst Antonio Rudiger, Thiago Silva and Andreas Christensen keep their place in the back-line.

Silva is usually not present for the first game back after national team duties conclude, due to playing in and travelling from South America.

However, having been rested by Brazil in their last fixture, the defender should be readily available for this match.

Again, Tuchel probably doesn’t need to tinker around with his midfield too much.

Ben Chilwell keeps his left wing-back slot, despite Marcos Alonso’s return from injury.

Jorginho and N’Golo Kante partner up centrally, the latter having been given a day off by France mid-week.

Reece James will aim to keep his scoring form going by running down the right channel.

The only big call is to leave out captain Cesar Azpilicueta for a second game running.

Tuchel’s one alteration from the Burnley battle is to bring Mason Mount back into the fold following his recovery from dental surgery.

The 22-year-old should replace £15m (BBC) man Ross Barkley, who earned a rare league start in the previous outing.

Kai Havertz and Callum Hudson-Odoi make up the two other forward slots.

Romelu Lukaku is training again after his ankle problems, but the Leicester tie has surely come too soon for the Belgian.

Chelsea predicted XI vs Leicester City: Mendy; Rudiger, Silva, Christensen; Chilwell, Kante, Jorginho, James; Mount, Havertz, Hudson-Odoi

Chelsea predicted XI vs Leicester City: 22-year-old returns in place of £15m man, key figure left out