Premier League weekend: Watch out, Chelsea, Leicester's' firepower needs to be respected

LONDON — Purely for wind-up purposes, Antonio Conte must be tempted to start 2015-16 Premier League title winners Danny Drinkwater and N’Golo Kante together in his Chelsea midfield this weekend in a clash that’s become extra spicy thanks to this double King Power Stadium reunion.

As if that wasn’t enough to get under Craig Shakespeare’s collar, the fixture computer has also been especially cruel on the Leicester City boss.

Landing Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool in four of their first six Premier League games was always going to ask a lot of the Foxes, who must try not to feel too despondent if the table makes for uncomfortable reading over the next few weeks.

Results have been understandably mixed, but I do like what I’ve seen from Leicester City, who are far zippier on and off the ball than they were this time last year. They’re looking like a top-half outfit.

The Blues have focused well since being taken apart 2-3 by Burnley though, and they will take some breaking down this weekend.

While Chelsea rode their luck during the first half of their clash with Tottenham (which eventually ended in a morale-boosting 2-1 win for the Blues), Conte’s men have since gone a full one and a half matches (against the quality of Tottenham and Everton) without giving away a single shot on target.

That’s a sensational stat and it’s a mark of how hard the Italian has forced his players to think about keeping things watertight at the back.

Facing an in-form Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki - ably supported by the likes of Riyad Mahrez, Demarai Gray and Marc Albrighton, who have all shown decent flashes of late – Chelsea won’t take a gung-ho approach here. Leicester City’s firepower needs to be respected.

I see a really tight affair.

Prediction: Leicester City 1 Chelsea 1

LEICESTER CITY VS CHELSEA (Saturday, 9.50pm; Singtel Ch104 and StarHub Ch229) 

About the author: Adrian Clarke is a former Arsenal midfielder who has played at every level of the English game. Now an experienced sports journalist, he writes for TODAY as well as several top football websites. Follow him on Twitter @adrianjclarke