Our daily betting pick for August 18th comes from the Premier League with the most accurate Chelsea v Leicester Prediction. Frank Lampard is set to make his home debut, while Leicester have come to ruin his welcoming party as they’ve always been a tricky opponent. It’s a quick turnaround for the Londoners who lost to Liverpool on penalties on Wednesday in Istanbul as we correctly predicted.
Lamps’ Faith in Academy Youngsters
Frank Lampard, an absolute club legend, decided to throw himself in deep waters rather than rest on his laurels. I have nothing but respect for him and his bravery. However, he has been assigned with a tough task to rebuild the Blues in the midst of a transfer ban. He lost the services of the club’s best player in the last 5-6 seasons as Hazard departed to Madrid, and now he has decided to rely heavily on youngsters. Chelsea have always had some good prospects coming from the academy and now seems to be the perfect moment to give some of these lads a chance. We are talking fine young players like Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Hudson-Odoi, Reece James. That’s another bold move by Lamps, but there is always the risk of over-relying on the young guns and giving them more than they can handle. To add to that, Abramovic is not known for his patience and Chelsea are not the sort of club where managers are given time to develop players. Yet, Lampard is putting his faith in the youth as he gave four players from the Chelsea acadamy a chance to play in Istanbul.
You can clearly see that Tammy Abraham is talented and has good speed and power, but he has had some bad luck. He hit the post with a fine shot against Man United, and everything could have been different had that went in. Then he missed the fifth penalty in Istanbul to gift Liverpool the trophy. This could break a young man’s spirit, so Lampard has to carefully manage his progress now.
Bad Luck About To Turn
While the results haven’t been great thus far, Chelsea’s style and performance level have been quite good to be honest. Yes, they suffered their biggest defeat at Old Trafford last Sunday, but the result really doesn’t do any justice. Chelsea dominated the first half only to hit the post twice and concede a penalty kick goal. The had some good situations in the second half only for the game to finish 4:0. It was not a fair result, but that’s football. Still, the Chelsea players put on a good performance.
Then came the match in Turkey against an experienced and confident Liverpool side, arguably the best in Europe. Again, the Blues were the better time for large periods of the game, but ultimately ended up losing on penalties.
You could say they’ve had some unfair results and luck going against them in their opening two matches of the season. However, the performances have been good. When it comes to making accurate betting predictions, you have take into account such trends and performance levels. Trends are an important factor in football betting, because eventually they end. One of our Chelsea v Leicester predictions for today is that the Blues will break through, get their first win and start a positive spell.
Lampard’s Pregame Interview for Chelseafc.com
‘It’s a big game for us in front of our home fans for the first time this season. Leicester are very much a team that should be respected for the players and manager they have got and how they have performed in recent years.
‘I know Brendan [Rodgers] well. He’s a fantastic manager. He’s got a great group of players there, a nice mix of top quality young players and experienced players. They will be well coached so we are going to have a big challenge.
‘Our mindset is important. It’s been a strange two games. We can’t think the strong performance on Wednesday will replicate itself just because we walk out on that pitch. It’s important we tackle it head on with a real focus.’
Chelsea Team News
But to focus on our free soccer prediction for today, the good news for Lamps is that two experienced players are about to return – the Brazilian winger Willian and German defender Rudiger. These are certainly two timely additions that will help stabilize the team.
Kante was surprisingly included in the starting lineup in Istanbul, and he was the best player on the pitch. One of our Chelsea v Leicester predictions is that the former Fox will put on another strong show against his former club.
Expected Chelsea line-up: Kepa, Emerson, Christensen, Azpilicueta, Zouma, Jorginho, Pulisic, Kante, Kovacic, Pedro, Giroud.
Expected Leicester line-up: Schmeichel, Chilwell, Soyuncu, Evans, Pereira, Tielemans, Maddison, Choudhury, Ndidi, Vardy, Perez.
Chelsea v Leicester Prediction: We expect Chelsea to turn things around and earn Lampard his first win in charge in his home debut. However, the 120 minutes played in Istanbul will take a toll and the Foxes, who like to play on the break, will fancy their chances. Thus, we expect both teams to get on the scoresheet, but the Londonders should eventually come out on top.
Betting Verdict: Chelsea To Win & Over 2.5 Goals @ 3.00
Final Score: 1:1
