Chelsea
Chelsea vs Leicester City : Can Eden Hazard save the Blues again
Chelsea welcome Leicester to Stamford Bridge on Saturday in one of the League’s match-day 18th fixtures.
The Blues are facing huge goalscoring problem as all of their strikers are experiencing dry spell in front of goal.
Morata’s form has been declining after six weeks into the season. His uninspiring form has seen him dropped out of Sarri’s starting XI.
Olivier Giroud, whom many thought is an upgrade to the Spanish striker, is getting more time on the pitch so as to help solve the team’s attacking problem.
The Frenchman is not anyway better than the former Real Madrid and Juventus striker. He has started four consecutive League matches but is yet to find the back of the net.
Ruben Loftus-cheek is another option for Sarri, but the former Napoli boss has chosen not to give him the opportunity to show if he’s the missing link in the Blues attacking setup.
However, Eden Hazard has surprised everyone by adding more goals to his game.
The Belgium international isn’t known as a player who scores plenty of goals but that seems to have changed since Sarri took over from his compatriot Antonio Conte, prior to the start of the campaign.
In Wednesday’s EFL Cup fixture against Bournemouth, the 27-year-old was made to observe a much-needed rest as Maurizio Sarri left him out of the starting lineup.
After many missed chances from Giroud and Loftus-Cheek, the game was gradually heading to penalty kicks leaving Sarri with no other option but to turn to the former Lille striker for inspiration.
Some minutes after his introduction into the encounter, the longtime Real Madrid target saved the Blues’ blushes as he found the back of the net.
His goal was all the former Premier League Champions needed to progress to the Semi-final round of the competition.
How long will Sarri depend on Hazard for goals?
Since he became a professional footballer, Hazard has never scored 20 goals in a single season.
That should be a wakeup call to Sarri that he can’t continue to depend solely on the versatile player for goals.
The manager must make move for new and free-scoring strikers in the fast-approaching transfer market.
Can he deliver the goals against Leicester City tomorrow?
The Foxes have endured not-too-convincing performances under Claude Puel this season but they are definitely going to give the Blues a run for their money.
The visiting side will keep a close watch on the Belgian star because they know that silencing him, means silencing the whole Chelsea team.
It remains unknown if the player would be able to find the back of the net just as he did against the Cherries in the week
