The Lowdown: Frank Lampard's Youthful Chelsea
On the back of two wins in a row, in the Emirates FA Cup and the Premier League, the Blues travel to the East Midlands to face a Foxes side who are unbeaten in six games in all competitions.
Ahead of that fascinating contest on Filbert Way, LCFC.com provides everything you need to know about the six-time champions of England...
The manager
Romford-born Frank Lampard is a man who requires no introduction to football followers around the world after a trophy-laden, 13-year spell at Stamford Bridge as a player.
Lampard, son of West Ham United legend Frank Lampard Sr., initially followed in his father's footsteps during his early playing career, emerging through the Upton Park club's academy.
Signed by future Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri at Chelsea in 2001, the midfielder would go on to carve his name into Stamford Bridge folklore forever.
It was under the management of José Mourinho when Lampard would truly flourish, winning both the Premier League title and the League Cup during their first season together.
While managers changed at the Bridge, Lampard's winning touch remained and his 211 goals in 646 appearances coincided with the most successful spell in the club's history.
Domestically, Lampard won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups and two Community Shields, while UEFA Champions League and Europa League honours came in 2012 and 2013.
Before retirement, he also starred for Major League Soccer's New York City and Manchester City, on loan, and in the summer of 2018 he was named as manager of Sky Bet Championship side Derby County.
Lampard guided the Rams to the Play-Off Final, where they were beaten by Aston Villa, but in the summer of 2019, following the departure of Maurizio Sarri, an emotional return to Chelsea was announced.
Last season, the Blues secured UEFA Champions League qualification, finishing fourth in the Premier League, and were beaten Emirates FA Cup finalists, losing out to Arsenal at Wembley.
The team
Chelsea have many experienced operators, including Thiago Silva, Marcos Alonso and César Azpilicueta, but the likes of Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Reece James have progressed well.
In the Blues squad, Foxes supporters will recognise three figures - Ben Chilwell, N'Golo Kanté, and Danny Drinkwater - the latter two forming the midfield pairing which won the title with City in 2016.
The pre-signings of RB Leipzig's Timo Werner and Ajax's Hakim Ziyech were followed in the summer by Silva, Chilwell, Édouard Mendy and Kai Havertz, as the west London club placed an emphasis on youth.
Álvaro Morata (Atlético Madrid), Willian (Arsenal) and Pedro (AS Roma) were among the most high-profile departures from Stamford Bridge during a transitional summer transfer window.
Werner and Olivier Giroud share the title as Chelsea's top goalscorers this season with nine efforts apiece in all competitions, one more than youngster Tammy Abraham, who leads the' Premier League chart (6).
Young Germany striker Werner is the only Chelsea star to have featured in all of the Blues' top-flight outings, while Mount and Kanté have each missed just one game in the Premier League in 2020/21.
Senegal international shot-stopper Mendy, on the other hand, is starting to lay a claim to being the capital club's first-choice goalkeeper after signing from Rennes for a reported £21.6M in the summer.
Form guide
After a run of just one win in six games in the Premier League, the Blues picked up a morale-boosting 1-0 success at Scott Parker's Fulham on Saturday, courtesy of Mason Mount's strike at Craven Cottage.
While Chelsea had defeated Sky Bet League 2 side Morecambe 4-0 at Stamford Bridge in the Emirates FA Cup, a 3-0 success over West Ham United was a brief highlight over the festive season.
A 1-1 home draw with Krasnodar in the UEFA Champions League was followed by home defeats to Everton (1-0) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (2-1) , before also losing out at London rivals Arsenal (3-1).
Aston Villa held Frank Lampard's men to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on 28 December before, on 3 January, Manchester City left the capital with a 3-1 victory, before the successive successes over Morecambe and Fulham.
Chelsea are seventh in the Premier League, just three points adrift of the top four, while they are safely into the knockout phase of the Champions League, where they will face Atlético Madrid later this year.
Previous encounters
Last June's 1-0 Emirates FA Cup Quarter-Final defeat by Chelsea at King Power Stadium was Leicester City's first reverse in four games against the capital club.
A 1-0 triumph, courtesy of Jamie Vardy's second-half strike in December 2018, was followed by three consecutive draws for the Foxes; 0-0 in May 2019, 1-1 in August 2019 and 2-2 in February 2020.
Chelsea have the upper hand in the all-time head-to-head record, however, tasting victory on 57 occasions, compared to Leicester's 26 wins, while 34 encounters between the two sides have ended in stalemate.
The trophy cabinet
Chelsea enjoyed success during their early seasons, lifting a combined eight trophies before the millennium, but it was the arrival of owner Roman Abramovich which inspired their post-2003 achievements.
Across their entire 114-year history, the Blues have won the English title on six occasions - in 1955, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2015 and 2017 - alongside eight FA Cup triumphs and League Cup successes.
An indicator of Chelsea's regular presence at the top table of English football comes with the fact that they have just two Second Division titles to their name, in 1984 and 1989.
Meanwhile, in the 21st century, Chelsea have lifted 17 trophies, including the UEFA Champions League in 2012, where they beat Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena, the German club's own stadium.
They've also won the Europa League on two occasions and have secured two UEFA Cup Winners' Cups and one UEFA Super Cup. Four Community Shields complete the impressive list.
The stadium
Stamford Bridge has been Chelsea's permanent home venue since the club's foundation in 1905, although it had in fact been used by other local sports clubs since 1877.
It has staged England internationals, FA Cup finals and semi-finals and Community Shield fixtures, as well as hosting cricket, rugby union, speedway, greyhound racing, baseball and American football.
With just over 40,000 seats, Stamford Bridge is the ninth-largest stadium in the Premier League and plans to expand the ground to a capacity closer to 60,000 are in discussion.
The stadium's largest attendance, meanwhile, was in 82,905, for a match between Chelsea and Arsenal on 12 October, 1935, before Stamford Bridge was modernised in the 1990s into an all-seater venue.
Upcoming fixtures
Sky Bet Championship outfit Luton Town are the visitors to Stamford Bridge in the fourth round of the Emirates FA Cup on 24 January (12pm kick-ff), before Wolves head to the capital on 27 January.
Another home game, against Burnley, follows on 30 January (3pm kick-off), while an intriguing encounter with José Mourinho's Tottenham Hotspur lies in wait on 3 February (7:45pm kick-off).
The Blues are scheduled to travel to Spain on 23 February, meanwhile, to tackle Atlético Madrid in the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League (8pm kick-off).
Diego Simeone brings his La Liga leaders to London for the second leg on 17 March (8pm kick-off).
All times GMT.