EPL Odds: Leaders Chelsea Take on Champs Leicester

Leicester City (+525) vs Chelsea (-162), Draw (+330)

The reigning champs meet the current class of the league this weekend when Chelsea (16-1-3, 49 points) take to King Power Stadium (Saturday, January 14) to face Leicester City (5-6-9, 21) in the 21st fixture of the English Premier League.

Leicester City are currently having the worst title defense in the history of the Premier League. Sitting in 15th place, they’re much closer to the relegation zone than repeating as champions. Their focus now is on the FA Cup, where they recently beat Everton 2-1 in the third round, and the Champions League, where they will face Sevilla in the Round of 16.

Jamie Vardy has been relatively quiet this season compared to his breakout 2015-16 campaign. The aging striker (29) has taken a backseat to new recruit Islam Slimani. Both strikers have scored five goals so far, but the Algerian – who is just one year Vardy’s junior – looks more spry and has had a much bigger impact on the team this season.

The young Riyad Mahrez remains a crucial part of the Foxes’ lineup, but he has also faded since the glory days of 2015-16. Leicester have struggled to adapt to the added duties that come with being a top-tier side, though they have been impressive in the Champions League.

Chelsea know the hazards of a title defense. They were in Leicester’s shoes last year and had a similarly terrible season. All that is a distant memory now. Currently, the Blues are first in the table, five points clear of second-place Liverpool. Their recent 2-0 loss to Tottenham diminished their lead, but Liverpool ended up with a draw, which meant the gap was only reduced by one point.

The title isn’t safe for Chelsea by any means. They take on second-place Liverpool in the coming weeks. If they slip up against either Leicester or Hull in their next two, the impending game against the Reds could see top spot on the line.

There’s still ample reason for confidence around Stamford Bridge, of course. Before losing to Tottenham in the last round, Chelsea had won 13 consecutive games. They are by far the most consistent team in the league right now and, despite the scoreline, they didn’t play too poorly against Tottenham.

Leicester have shown glimmers of their title-winning side this season (especially in the UCL) but, more often than not, we have seen a dysfunctional and inconsistent team struggling to recreate last year’s magic.

Pick: Chelsea (-162)

Photo credit: “Willian” by Aleksandr Osipov CC BY-SA 2.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0], via Flickr.