Chelsea In Focus: Mike Stowell

- Mike Stowell assesses what formation Chelsea could potentially line up in on Saturday (3pm kick-off)
- The reigning champions come to King Power Stadium for an exciting Premier League fixture
- Stowell was delighted with the amount of players away on international duty over the past few days

Antonio Conte’s men bounced back from their opening day loss to Burnley by beating Tottenham Hotspur and Everton in their last two outings.

City, meanwhile, defeated Brighton & Hove Albion during their last home fixture and the Club’s first team and goalkeeping coach says it will be an interesting encounter this weekend.

“Chelsea had that blip against Burnley, but they’re the champions,” Stowell told LCFC TV. “They’re a very good team and they’ve strengthened this season. They’ll come to us in a 3-4-3 formation.

“We know the shape they play – they’re a very expansive and very good team. Everybody knows Chelsea, they’re household names and it’ll be a good battle, but we’re well up for that battle.

“Arsenal were very similar in that they’re possession based and have some very good attacking flair players. Chelsea will be the same. They’ve got [Marcos] Alonso and [Victor] Moses, who these days are basically wingers. 

“Alonso is such an attacking force and a good strength and Moses on the other side. We coped against it at Arsenal and we’ve got willing workers in our wide men as well.

“In our system, in the 4-4-2, our full-backs deal with the inside strikers and our wingers deal with their wing-backs so sometimes it’s a match-up in there.

“Their shape is a good one and it’s worked well for them, but we like our shape as well and we’re comfortable in that. Hopefully it’ll be a good contest and a good match-up.”

Craig Shakespeare’s men have four Premier League fixtures this month ahead of another international break, and while Stowell says City have a points target that they would like to hit, all efforts are focused on Chelsea.

He added: “When I always say about looking at the next game, that’s what we do. In our heads as staff, we also have to plan forward but make sure we don’t get ahead of ourselves.

“The lads aren’t focused on Huddersfield or any other team, it’s Chelsea. Of course, when you look at it, we have a points figure in our heads that we’d like to have.

“We keep it to ourselves, but first and foremost is Chelsea and every ounce of our concentration will go into it.”

In preparation for Saturday’s clash at King Power Stadium, the Club’s international stars returned to Belvoir Drive this week following a busy schedule.

Stowell continued: “Things have changed here at Leicester City with where we have virtually 75 per cent of our squad away on international duty. That’s great recognition for the Club and it leaves us with a shadow squad.

“We get some sharpness into those players and any lads who haven’t played first team football of late. It’s mainly a ticking over for them and we then get a chance as staff to discuss what’s gone on as a block of games.

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Stowell takes to the training pitch to put the Club's goalkeepers through their paces.

“You don’t want anybody to come back injured and we’ve got an array of internationals. Shinji [Okazaki] is always the one who goes the furthest – he’s travelled something like 17,000 miles over these last 10 days.

“There’s also different time zones and we get information and keep a look out about how many minutes they play and when they train, but it’s a tough ask for them.

“We monitor them and we’ve had them all back today (Thursday) for the first time all fit and well, which is good news. It’s also a case of having a look on the training pitch at them, not doing too much with them.”

Stowell went on to stress the importance of City’s representation on the international stage, with the latest round of games seeing 11 senior Foxes in action for their nations.

“The recognition is fantastic,” said Stowell. “It’s been great for Harry [Maguire] to get in the England squad and it’s good for Kingy (Andy King) to become the most capped Leicester City player – that’s a fantastic achievement for him.

“Shinji has also qualified for the World Cup [with Japan]. They go away with their countries and come back and play the slog of the Premier League, but it’s great for them to be able to look back on how successful they’ve been.”