Sports Blog 20/09/2016: EFL Cup – Leicester vs Chelsea, Tuesday 20th September 2016

Can Chelsea bounce back with an EFL Cup win over Premier League champions Leicester at 7.45pm on Sky Sports 1?

It seems that the international break has disrupted Antonio Conte’s dominance. Faultless across August, Chelsea have begun to stumble; an unlucky 2-2 draw against Swansea was followed up by a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Friday night, with the Blues second best for most of the game.

The one unadulterated positive from the start of Chelsea’s season has been the resurgence of Diego Costa, who heads into Tuesday night at a Super Mega PGM of 35-41. Already the Spanish forward has 5 goals in 5 games, just shy of the total tally Costa managed in all competitions last season. That has meant that Michy Batshuayi, at a Super Mega PGM of 36-42, is yet to start in the Premier League, only appearing off the beach. The Belgian youngster did impress, however, in his EFL Cup debut against Bristol Rovers, scoring Chelsea’s first and last in their 3-2 victory.



While Chelsea have already appeared in the re-named League Cup, Leicester are starting their campaign in the 3rd round. Unsurprisingly to anyone but the most die-hard Fox, Leicester have been a bit all over the place in the season of their title defence. An embarrassing loss to Hull and a heavy defeat to Liverpool have been joined by a draw against Arsenal, and wins against Swansea, Club Brugge in the Champions League and, most recently, Burnley.

That final game was notable for the league debut of the club’s record signing Islam Slimani, who opened his account with a pair of headers either side of the half time break. That leaves the Algerian at a Super Mega PGM of 21-25, compared to his fellow countryman Rihad Mahrez’s 16-20 and Jamie Vardy’s 22-27.

Despite a shift in momentum for each side the Blues are still fancied heading into Tuesday night, especially since the Foxes have a weekend trip to Manchester United ahead of a visit from Porto next week (though admittedly Chelsea have to travel to Arsenal on Saturday night). That means our traders are offering a Chelsea/Leicester (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.45-0.65 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.75-2.95.