Leicester City Lineup vs Chelsea: Patson Daka Starts as Van Nistelrooy Springs a Surprise

Ruud van Nistelrooy has made a bold tactical shift to revive Leicester City’s form, altering their formation at Chelsea.

Having previously stuck to the same setup, he has now opted for a 5-2-1-2 system, reminiscent of City’s FA Cup-winning run.

This change sees three new faces in the lineup—Conor Coady, Luke Thomas, and Patson Daka—replacing Jannik Vestergaard, Facundo Buonanotte, and Bobby De Cordova-Reid.

Defensively, Coady is expected to anchor the back five, flanked by Wout Faes and Victor Kristiansen, with James Justin and Thomas as wing-backs.

However, there’s a possibility that Thomas plays centrally while Kristiansen operates up and down the left.

In midfield, Boubakary Soumare retains his place alongside Wilfred Ndidi, despite struggling at West Ham.

Ahead of them, Bilal El Khannouss takes on the attacking midfield role, supporting the strike duo of Daka and Jamie Vardy.

This marks only the third time Vardy and Daka have started together and the first since the win over Wolves under Dean Smith, during City’s last relegation fight.

On the bench, Ricardo Pereira is included in a squad under van Nistelrooy for the first time after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Woyo Coulibaly is also named, but there is no place for Vestergaard or midfielder Oli Skipp.

Leicester City (5-2-1-2): Hermansen; Justin, Faes, Coady, Kristiansen, Thomas; Ndidi, Soumare; El Khannouss; Vardy, Daka.