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Leicester vs Chelsea – Premier League Match Preview

Leicester may have ended up selling Danny Drinkwater to defending Premier League champions Chelsea on the final day of the transfer window but they may well be quickly reunited with him as the two teams meet at the King Power Stadium this afternoon.

Whether Drinkwater can force himself into the first eleven today or whether Antonio Conte feels that it is probably wiser to give him a debut in less of a heated atmosphere remains to be seen but one thing that is for certain is the fact that Andre Silva will not be featuring until January.

The Portuguese international missed out on being registered by the club by an agonising 12 seconds. That small fraction of time means a whole host of inactivity unless the Foxes can convince FIFA to show some leniency and allow his registration to be validated.

Ultimately what it does mean is that Leicester have sold on of their key men without their replacement being able to fill the void, just as to how much of a detrimental effect this will have going forward remains to be seen but one thing that is for sure is the fact that the fixture computer has not been kind to the 2015/16 league winners.

They have had to face Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea in their first four matches with the only respite being the fact that they managed a home win against Brighton in the second weekend of the season, Craig Shakespeare will be glad when this run of fixtures will be over and they can start going head to head with more level opponents.

Visitors Chelsea’s season has finally found its groove after successive wins over Tottenham and Everton went a large way to erasing the memories of that opening weekend shock at the hands of Burnley. Just under a fortnight ago they eased to a routine win over Everton at Stamford Bridge.

That win saw new signing Alvaro Morata once again on the score sheet as he and compatriot Cesc Fabregas were the difference in a 2-0 win over Ronald Koeman’s men. The former Real Madrid forward Morata played a key part in Spain’s victory over Italy last weekend and will be looking to carry that form over to today.

There could also be a debut for Italian wing back Davide Zappacosta after a deadline day move of his own, the international joined from Torino for a fee believed £23m. He could slot into the right hand side berth although that may not be good news for Victor Moses who has been occupying that position for the past season.

Chelsea perhaps did not have the greatest of windows and not one fitting that of defending champions, they have sourced new additions but not as many as they would have perhaps liked plus they are still saddled with the question of what to do with Diego Costa.

He was not sold onto Atletico Madrid as some would have expected and is currently soaking up the rays on the Copacabana Beach or somewhere similar, perhaps this is a sign that clubs have too much money as Chelsea can even afford to have a £40m striker just decide not to turn up to training. Nice work if you can get it.

The lack of Costa anywhere near Chelsea’s Cobham traning ground is going to have no bearing as to how the Blues get on this afternoon and I think they will make it three wins from their last three matches to go level with Manchester United for at least a couple of hours. An away win for me.

Here is what social media thinks will happen – there is still time to vote

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