As is often the case, the battle for the top-four is less a question of excellence and greatness, and more a question of being the least worst in a crop of sometimes good but rather flawed and inconsistent teams. And so it is this year as well.
As we head into the final quarter of the season, we find no fewer than seven teams, from currently fourth Manchester City to currently tenth Fulham, separated by just five points, all hoping to be the last team standing at the end. Liverpool have practically won the title and both Arsenal and Nottingham Forest (!) seem to be just a step above the rest, so it’s seven into one — barring either an epic collapse, or an epic winning streak from one of those involved.
Chelsea could finish the weekend in said fourth position, with ten games to play, by beating relegation-candidates Leicester City. Sounds easy; but we don’t do easy.
Date / Time: Sunday, March 9, 2025, 14.00 GMT; 10am EDT; 7:30pm IST
Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6
Referee: Tim Robinson (on pitch); Darren England (VAR)
Forecast: Sunny and warm?!
On TV: none (UK); USA, Telemundo (USA); none (India); SuperSport Premier League, Canal+ Sport 3 (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: none (UK); NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); Disney+ Hotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Chelsea team news: Chelsea’s victory midweek against Copenhagen was hardly impressive, but it was a win nonetheless, giving us back-to-back victories for the first time since mid-December. That said, though our overall form has been fairly tragic since, we’ve been okay at home, winning four of five. In fact, we’ve still lost just once in all competitions at the Bridge since the opening day defeat against Manchester City. Let’s hope the 12th man can be a bit more positive than in the anxiety-ridden opening stages of our last home game, the 4-0 win over Southampton.
We do have some good news regarding injuries as well, with Wesley Fofana potentially set to make his return to action despite initial expectations that he wouldn’t play against this season. Benoît Badiashile did so midweek as well, in limited minutes. Others are not quite there yet, and Malo Gusto is questionable after being forced to leave Thursday’s game in the first half, but the situation is improving.
Hopefully our form keeps improving right alongside it.
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Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images
Leicester City team news: After winning promotion under Enzo Maresca last season, Leicester started life back in the Premier League decently enough, collecting nine points from their first eight games, which is just about good enough pace for survival (especially as they would avoid any sanctions for financial irregularities). Unfortunately for them, they’ve managed just eight points from the 19 since, which decidedly isn’t, losing eleven of their last twelve, including four in a row. The one non-defeat in that sequence was a 2-1 win against Spurs, which is pretty amusing.
Sacking Steve Cooper at the end of November has had little effect on the team’s momentum, with Ruud van Nistelrooy managing just three wins from sixteen in all competitions. Only Southampton’s historic-levels of badness have prevented Leicester from sinking all the way to the bottom of the table.
Of course, no game in the Premier League can be taken for granted. The Foxes showed some cunning and fight in the FA Cup, which they only exited due to a last-minute winner by Manchester United last month, for example, and many will surely be motivated to get one over on their former boss. And Jamie Vardy can be quite annoying still at 38.
One thing Leicester do have going for them is good health, with only Abdul Fatawu out (tore his ACL in November). Right back Ricardo Pereira had been out since November as well, but is set to make his return having recovered from hamstring surgery.
Previously: Chelsea have won four in a row in all competitions against Leicester, and have six wins and one draw in the seven we’ve played since most unfortunately losing against them in the 2021 FA Cup final.
