'A missed opportunity for Leicester'published at 16:54 9 March
16:54 9 March
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Former Leicester goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer says the narrow defeat to Chelsea was "a missed opportunity," as the Foxes hopes of Premier League survival gets smaller.
"Chelsea were awful in the final third when it came to their decision-making, Schwarzer told BBC Radio 5 Live. But Leicester did not create enough at the other end.
"It is a missed opportunity. They spent a lot of energy defending and they did not have much left in their tank when there were chances to go forward.
"The league table does not lie and the fact is that Leicester haven't been good enough to warrant a better position. I just don't see this team having the ability to get out of this relegation fight.
Leicester show fight but let rivals off hookpublished at 16:46 9 March
16:46 9 March
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Image caption,
Leicester City have lost 12 of their last 13 Premier League matches
In isolation, Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy will have taken some positives from his side's display during a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea.
They were defensively resolute, afforded Chelsea few chances and looked bright on the counter-attack during the first half.
The problem is that, with 10 matches left in the Premier League season, Leicester cannot afford to judge anything in isolation.
The only thing that matters at this stage is points and Leicester are not earning enough of them to survive.
The defeat was Leicester's 12th in their last 13 league matches.
Rivals Ipswich were beaten late on at Crystal Palace on Saturday, while Wolves played out a 1-1 draw with Everton at Molineux to move six points clear of the relegation zone.
Neither side would have banked on Leicester getting anything away at Stamford Bridge but the Foxes are running out of chances to capitalise on their rivals' slip-ups.
Leicester face Manchester United, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Brighton and Liverpool in their next five fixtures.
To survive this season, they will have to spring a surprise somewhere.
'Lots of positives again but we take nothing' - Van Nistelrooypublished at 16:39 9 March
16:39 9 March
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Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy speaking to Sky Sports: "I get good at this after games. A good performance on and off the ball, everything was there and I think the players deserved more. We came away with a penalty save to go into half-time at 0-0. It's the kind of luck you need sometimes to turn things around.
"Lots of positives again but we have to take the blow of taking nothing.
"We took one week to prepare for this and it was really positive. We didn't expect it to be this good. It suited the players and the profiles we have. It gave us more stability defensively and more support up front with two nines. It is something to build on."
Did you know?published at 16:24 9 March
16:24 9 March
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Leicester City have lost five consecutive league games without scoring for only the third time in their history, after January 1981 and February 2017.
Chelsea 1-0 Leicester - send us your thoughtspublished at 16:00 9 March
Sutton's predictions: Chelsea v Leicesterpublished at 11:00 9 March
11:00 9 March
After beating Southampton last time out, this feels like another 'gimme' for Chelsea, and just when they needed it.
With the two teams immediately above them, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City, playing each other on Saturday, Chelsea could end up as high as third if they win this and, let's face it, they are very likely to take the three points.
I am sure Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca will say lots of nice things about his former club but he will be absolutely desperate to pump them here.
I think they will win easily, too. I feel sorry for Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy because he has been dealt a terrible hand, and in the background there is frustration from the Foxes fans about the running of the club.
It feels like there was muddled thinking from the club's owners to appoint Van Nistelrooy, based on the fact he had beaten them while he was in caretaker charge of Manchester United.
Lots of managers could have got the job if that was the criteria. I would even have fancied my Lincoln City team from a few years back to have beaten Leicester this season so I could have ended up manager there.
I guess that shows any unhappy fans that things could always be worse.
Chelsea v Leicester: Life with and without Marescapublished at 14:04 8 March
14:04 8 March
Before Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca hosts his former side Leicester at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, we asked our fan writers for each club to answer question about the Italian coach.
How have you found life with Maresca?
Ross: It has been a tale of two seasons so far. While much of the focus has been on Chelsea's decline in attacking output - and perhaps unfairly on Cole Palmer given the continual reliance on him - so far Maresca's style of play has left the defence consistently vulnerable, even before considering the poor play from our goalkeepers. His team creating chances has not been the problem at least, finishing them has.
How have you found life without Maresca?
Kate: It's been very tough and challenging and having two managers so far this season hasn't helped. We had a plan in place with Enzo to take us through the next few years, a style of football where everyone was engaged, and we had the correct personnel to take this forward. The replacement of Enzo with Steve Cooper was an about turn on this style of football and therefore upon the transfer policy, leaving us with a real mixed bag of personnel for different styles of play. We have therefore struggled to find an identity and a successful way of playing this season.
What mistakes has he made at Chelsea?
Ross: Maresca has been late to change things around in games not going our way and seldom changes formations, generally only swapping his wingers around.
Madueke, Sancho, Neto, Felix and Nkunku have all had spells of poor play, but it feels like he has missed a trick by not utilising Palmer on the right to present opponents with different problems.
The outcome has been the departure of Felix, while Nkunku has had little opportunity to find form just when he is needed most.
What are the typical mistakes or annoyances at Leicester?
Kate: Individual errors have hampered our performances this season and these have mainly come from the defence. We haven't addressed these and still concede over two goals per game. This has been a season-long frustration. However, since Ruud's appointment, the goals have also completely dried up due to the cautious style of play and we have only scored four goals in the last 12. These on pitch frustrations have led to fan frustrations directed towards the club board, which have boiled over in the form of a fan protest. Things do not seem cohesive.
Chelsea v Leicester: Can Maresca kick a side on?published at 14:03 8 March
14:03 8 March
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Before Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca hosts his former side Leicester at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, we asked our fan writers for each club to answer question about the Italian coach.
Is he the man to guide Chelsea's future?
Ross: The jury is out on this one and it is concerning that the attack has dropped off as opponents have keyed in on our style of play.
This is not only on the players' backs as it seems as if they are not coached in the art of being compact when needed.
However, it is still early in Maresca's reign and the current recruitment team has only hit on Palmer and Moises Caicedo thus far while there are still deficiencies in at least three positions.
Would he have kept Leicester up?
Kate: Most fans would agree that the style of football under Enzo, with the personnel that we had, would've made our Premier League survival hopes very slim. Possession based football with slow build up play means that you rely upon your team to keep the ball - Leicester are not very good at this. So he would have been up against it and would have needed a gem of a transfer window to make this work. Otherwise a plan B would have been required and I am not sure we ever saw that Enzo had this in his repertoire.
How far can he take the Blues?
Ross: Arguably more concerning than the league form were the insipid displays in the cup defeats at Newcastle and Brighton and the poor messaging from Maresca that accompanied them.
There is tempering expectations and then there is excusing one's players from properly applying themselves.
Players pay attention to what their managers say and even if we are to win the Conference League, the mentality has to be right to win major honours.
As a Foxes fan, do you think he will succeed at Chelsea?
Kate: I think he will obtain European football each year and in some competitions have a really good run. However, like Leicester, I think that certain things need to be sorted behind the scenes with transfer policies and recruitment. In the Premier League, I think there are better teams that can play his style of football and achieving top four will be tough but doable. A bad run of results at the wrong time can also lead to a sacking, so he is up against it for sure, but I wish him well.
Pereira available for Chelsea trippublished at 15:54 7 March
15:54 7 March
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Leicester City right-back Ricardo Pereira will be available for the Foxes' trip to Chelsea on Sunday, Ruud van Nistelrooy has confirmed.
The defender has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since the 1-1 draw with Ipswich in November, but the Foxes boss revealed he has now returned to first-team training.
Van Nistelrooy added: "This was his first week of full team training, so he will be available for selection. It is good news.
"One week of team training and we want to build him up, with common sense, and see how he goes. Then we can take it from there."
Chelsea v Leicester: Did you know?published at 15:51 7 March
15:51 7 March
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Leicester have won just one of their past 11 Premier League away games against Chelsea, netting just seven goals in that time and never more than once in a match.
Leicester City have lost 11 of their past 12 Premier League games, losing four in a row without scoring and conceding at least twice, since beating Spurs 2-1 in January. The Foxes could lose five straight league matches by margin of two goals or more for the third time in their history.
Pedro Neto has been involved in four goals in his past four Premier League games (two goals, two assists), one more than he was in his first 20 appearances for Chelsea. The most recent game against Southampton was the first time Neto has ever scored and assisted in the same Premier League match.
Survival bid will rest on 'togetherness and personality' - Baracloughpublished at 13:26 7 March
13:26 7 March
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Leicester City academy product Ian Baraclough is hoping Ruud van Nistelrooy's side have used their 10-day break to "build some confidence back up", as the relegation-threatened side prepare to face Chelsea,Manchester United,Manchester City,Newcastle United,Brighton and Liverpool in their next six games.
Speaking on BBC Radio Leicester's When You're Smiling podcast, Baraclough said: "You can clearly see the team are playing without massive confidence in the ranks. Five losses on the trot and two wins in their past 15 games is not great going into the final part of a season.
"But, and I think Ruud van Nistelrooy has already said this, five points is not insurmountable at this point in the season. No club in that bottom four are really hitting the heights.
"They have to go on a run now. They have to believe, as a club and as players, that they can go and put a string of results together.
"Teams aren't going to give Leicester City too much of a chance going into these next six games, but that might be the catalyst of them thinking: 'Hey, what have we got to lose?'
"But currently they look devoid of attacking threat and confidence, that's for sure. So these past 10 days will hopefully have been a really important time to build some confidence back up and to prepare for the Chelsea game.
"If you can garner a bit of togetherness and generate a bit of personality in this team, there is no reason why they can't stay in this division."
Van Nistelrooy on 10-day break, Maresca's familiarity and Monga futurepublished at 12:30 7 March
12:30 7 March
Millie Sian BBC Sport journalist
Leicester City boss Ruud van Nistelrooy has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game at Chelsea (kick-off 14:00 GMT).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Woyo Coulibaly is back available after missing out on the game against West Ham. The right-back has recovered from some "little bits" and he has "trained as expected" this week.
The squad have "taken advantage" of their 10-day break from action: "We had a long week, with many days to work and look at the West Ham game. We will have had five sessions together to prepare for this game. It was important to work with the team as you have to recover from the bad result and rise again."
He confirmed the squad has spoken about their "approach to games" and "how it should be" moving forward into a tough run of fixtures. He added: "This team is capable of doing it. We are not the only team in this situation, dealing with loss after loss, so we have to make sure we are ready for Sunday."
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca "knows the squad", after earning the Foxes promotion to the Premier League last season, but Leicester City's backroom staff have "the necessary information to be prepared" for their trip to Stamford Bridge.
On the opponents, he added: "I watched their game yesterday [against Copenhagen] and I looked at how they play, their approach, the squad they have, the quality they have, and the fight they are in to qualify for the Champions League."
He is aware of the "big task ahead" but is confident his team "will do everything possible to get a result".
When asked whether every game from this point forward is a "must win" rather than a "must not lose", he responded: "The approach is - and has always been - to get the maximum amount out of the game and to always plan to be able to win. If you can't win then you want to protect the result." There will be a "similar approach" against Chelsea.
There has been some speculation around the future of academy product Jeremy Monga, who has been "part of the training set-up" this season, but "the priority is to do absolutely everything" they can to keep him at King Power Stadium.
The Foxes have already had conversations with the winger, his agent and his family about his future at the club, including plans to use the youngster during pre-season.
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