#2 Philippe Coutinho vs N’Golo Kante
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When N’Golo Kante swapped the blue of Leicester City for that of Chelsea, there was a fair bit of excitement amongst the Chelsea faithful and deservedly so. Kante had been phenomenal in Leicester’s title winning run and in a short span of time, had established himself as one of the finest midfielders in the Premier League.
However, very few fans and pundits anticipated the enormity of the impact Kante could have on this Chelsea unit. The Frenchman has proved to be an able midfield general for Antonio Conte’s men as he constantly frustrates the opposition by breaking up play with a mix of tackles, interceptions and harmless fouls.
In the season thus far, he has effected 39 tackles and an impressive 52 interceptions to help his side assert their dominance in the middle of the park. With Kante also showing his creative instincts, he is soon turning into a complete midfielder.
On Tuesday, however, Kante will have his task cut out when he is handed the responsibility of containing Liverpool’s creator-in-chief Philippe Coutinho. The Brazilian signed a new contract with the club committing his future at Anfield until the end of the 2021-22 season and will be keen to prove to the footballing world why he is rated so highly at the club with a match-winning performance against Chelsea.
Liverpool have endured a tough January and Coutinho will definitely need to break the shackles that come with facing Kante to ensure his side can eke out a positive result against the pace-setters.
