Leicester City vs Chelsea, Premier League: live score and latest updates
Having dropped points at home to Burnley before the international break, Chelsea need to rebuild their momentum before the festive fixture pile-up begins in earnest.
Leicester may not have been at their best this season, but the King Power Stadium is still a dangerous place to go. Chelsea haven't beaten today's opponents away from home in the Premier League since 2017, when Antonio Conte was still in charge and Craig Shakespeare was in the opposite dugout.
The Blues' last three league fixtures at the King Power have ended in a 2-0 defeat, a 2-2 draw and a 0-0 stalemate. While Thomas Tuchel presided over his first win against Leicester at Stamford Bridge back in May, his abiding memory of coming up against Brendan Rodgers' side will be Youri Tielemans' rocketed winner in the FA Cup final three days previous.
As such, this match feels like a litmus test for Chelsea's title hopes. With league games against Manchester United, Watford and West Ham following in quick succession, maintaining their three-point lead over Manchester City in second will be easier said than done.
Tuchel has no need to fear another Tielemans wondergoal here, with the Belgium midfielder currently sidelined. Rodgers confirmed that he would be out "for a few weeks" after picking up a calf injury in Leicester's 1-1 draw with Leeds earlier in the month.
James Justin will also miss out, though Marc Albrighton could be available. Chelsea, meanwhile, will continue to make do without the injured Romelu Lukaku and Mateo Kovacic, though the former is "very close" to making a return.
Timo Werner returned to training earlier this week, but it's unclear whether or not he'll be ready to start. Mason Mount should also be in contention after recovering from dental surgery.
Asked about Chelsea's title challenge before the match, Tuchel said: "We have proved over 90 minutes that we can close gaps and that we can beat everybody. This is the feeling that we want to create and constantly have on the pitch, that we are able to beat anybody and we're the team nobody wants to play against, so we can compete on any level.
"Man City and Liverpool did it over years and years. They challenge each other and push each other to an amount of points which was really impressive over the last years, and we have to prove we are like this.
"It will not be proven on Saturday, or next week, or at Christmas. It's a long way to go and we have to dig in and prove to ourselves that we can overcome obstacles and hard times."