Leicester v Chelsea free tip and betting preview | FA Cup quarter-final odds

FA Cup quarter-final: Leicester City v Chelsea

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 4pm Sunday

Match odds

7-4 Leicester, 6-4 Chelsea, 12-5 draw

Form

Leicester had looked certainties for a top-four finish at one stage this season but they are being reeled in by the chasing pack and will hope this FA Cup quarter-final can spark them back into action before a tricky Premier League trip to Everton on Wednesday.

"We haven’t quite found our rhythm yet in attack," said boss Brendan Rodgers after Tuesday's goalless draw with Brighton. That looks to be true given they have had just four shots on target in their two matches since the Premier League restart and were held to a 1-1 draw by Watford.

However, there could more to it than Leicester simply having knocked off their stride by the lockdown. City have won only two of their last ten in the Premier League and failed to score in four of the last six, while Jamie Vardy has been on a particularly barren run.

Chelsea will have had two days less to prepare for the contest having played Manchester City on Thursday evening. Frank Lampard's side had taken ten points from a possible 12 prior to that clash and, like Leicester, are heavily involved in the top-four battle.

Team news

Ricardo Pereira and Daniel Amartey remain sidelined for Leicester.

Fikayo Tomori and Callum Hudson-Odoi were ruled out of the City game earlier in the week and Frank Lampard will have to assess his squad after Thursday's Stamford Bridge battle.

The tactical battle

Leicester need to find a way to get Vardy involved - he touched the ball just once in the opening 30 minutes against Brighton - and his combination with Kelechi Iheanacho in a 4-4-2 formation is not working out particularly well.

Playing two defensive midfielders in Wilfred Ndidi and Nampalys Mendy was another gamble which failed to pay off, so expect Rodgers to revert to his 4-2-3-1 with Harvey Barnes and Youri Tielemans among those likely to return.

Chelsea had great joy from set-pieces against Leicester in the last meeting in February as Antonio Rudiger scored twice and that is an area they could once again look to exploit.

Verdict

This is a really tricky game to call given Leicester are obviously not firing on all cylinders, while Chelsea are handicapped by having a swift turnaround from tackling Manchester City on Thursday.

Chelsea's away games tend to be high-scoring but Leicester's fixtures have failed to match that excitement either side of the break to further cloud the issue.

There is not much between the sides and both league games ended in draws so this tie could go the distance. Draw 1-1.

Key stats

• The last three meetings between the teams have all been draws
• Jamie Vardy has failed to score in 11 of his 12 appearances since Christmas
• Both teams have scored in 15 of Chelsea's 19 away matches this season
• Six of Leicester's last seven games have produced no more than two goals.

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