Chelsea v Leicester: Predictions for man of the match & first player carded

Free football tips, analysis and special bets for Chelsea v Leicester City in the FA Cup final on Saturday.

Best bets

T Werner man of the match
1pt 8-1 bet365

W Ndidi first player carded
1pt 14-1 bet365

Verdict

Solid defence has underpinned Chelsea's transformation from Premier League underachievers to FA Cup and Champions League finalists under Thomas Tuchel but the Blues are not short of attacking talent and one of their big money buys, 25-year-old striker Timo Werner, looks ready to play a match-winning role against Leicester.

Chelsea's road to Wembley was paved with four clean sheets, including their rock-solid 1-0 success over Manchester City in last month's semi-final.

Werner's start against City was his first FA Cup appearance under Tuchel after he had been omitted for the victories at Barnsley and at home to Sheffield United, but he won over his manager and made five consecutive starts before he was one of the seven players rested for Wednesday's 1-0 loss at home to Arsenal.

Werner's tally of six goals in 33 league appearances falls well short of expectations for a player who netted 78 goals in 127 Bundesliga matches for former club RB Leipzig.

But the German international is certainly not alone in experiencing a tough first season in English football and has looked more at ease in recent weeks, scoring in last month's important 1-0 success at West Ham and breaking the deadlock in the momentous 2-0 victory at home Real Madrid.

Werner's movement is looking a lot sharper and his increasing confidence and readiness to run in behind are obvious dangers to Leicester, who have not kept a clean sheet in four matches.

He looks as likely as anyone to break the deadlock and that would make him a strong man-of-the-match contender at 8-1.

Leicester's most likely match-winner could be Kelechi Iheanacho, who approaches the final full of confidence having scored 13 goals in the last 12 matches

Iheanacho's exploits have encouraged Brendan Rodgers to play with two central strikers but the formation adjustment has been less favourable to Jamie Vardy, who has notched once in his last 16 appearances.

However, despite the huge disparity between the duo's recent contributions there is no difference in their man of the match odds with both attracting 11-1 quotes.

Leicester's defensive prowess may depend on the fitness of Jonny Evans, who is battling to overcome a heel injury.

The Foxes struggled without Evans in the 4-2 loss at home to Newcastle and need to find a way of stopping Chelsea from exposing their suspect backline.

It will be up to the midfielders to provide greater protection and a lot of the destructive work will fall on the shoulders of Wilfred Ndidi, who looks an attractively priced 14-1 shot to receive the first card.

Ndidi enjoys a tackle and was Leicester's most carded player in the 2018-19 Premier League season and their second-most carded player in 2019-20.

He has received five bookings in 29 domestic appearances this term but could be put under more pressure than usual by the Blues and looks a strong contender to be the first to enter referee Michael Oliver's notebook.

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