After progression into the quarter finals of the Champions League following a very good performance against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, Chelsea continued their recent mini upturn in form with another win over Leicester City at the King Power.
In terms of team news Reece James and Raheem Sterling were unavailable through illness and injury respectively. This meant Ruben Loftus-Cheek started at right wing back and Mykhaylo Mudryk also started in a role similar to what Raheem Sterling was in against Borussia Dortmund. Although this is not what is shown below in the formation. The front three especially were quite fluid. The rest of the team were the same as against Dortmund in midweek.
Chelsea took the lead early on as a cross from Kalidou Koulibaly after a corner was volleyed in from an angle by Ben Chilwell against his former club. Patson Daka equalised for Leicester with a strike from distance which beat Kepa after Felix was dispossessed. Kai Havertz then scored with a nice finish after a wonderful chipped pass from Enzo Fernandez. Mateo Kovacic completed the scoring with another great volley after a header down from Mudryk who claimed his first assist for the club.
Enzo Fernandez with a great chipped pass to Havertz who finished well
Mudryk started in a more advanced role to stretch the opposition like Raheem Sterling did against Borussia Dortmund with Havertz playing deeper again to find spaces. Mudryk did though at times come short to receive the ball.
Once Chelsea took the lead just before half time, there was a switch to 5-3-2 at the break as Conor Gallagher came on to replace Felix. This was to prevent James Maddison from being as free in dangerous areas. Towards the end they matched Leicester with a back four. The team played on the break and Mudryk put the ball in the net but the goal was ruled out for offside before his assist for the Kovacic goal which secured the win.
Mudryk in a more advanced role in the first half
Leicester left gaps at the back in behind in the second half. On this occasion Mudryk put the ball in the net but was in an offside position
The key thing for Chelsea was their ability to finish chances.
The team stats show that Chelsea shaded possession but only slightly with 51%. Leicester had more shots (17) with 7 on target. They created 3 big chances which were all missed. Chelsea had 12 shots with 6 on target. Chelsea created 2 big chances and missed 1. The blues completed slightly more passes (453 with 84% accuracy) against Leicester who made 431 (83% accuracy). Chelsea also over performed their expected goals.
(Stats via FotMob)
Leicester (2.10) - Chelsea (1.45)
via Xg Philosophy
Overall the team in general performed well again. Defensively they were pretty solid. Koulibaly has improved his performances over the past few games and seems to have settled and adapted his game. He once again started in the centre of a back three with Cucurella on the left and Fofana on the right. A video of his performance is shown below.
Enzo had a very good game. Playing with Mateo Kovacic has helped to balance the midfield with both contributing defensively and also in the final third. His stats are below.
Enzo Fernández v Leicester City :
68/77 passes (most completed in game with 88% accuracy)
7 passes into final third
5/7 accurate long balls
6 duels won
5 ball recoveries
4 passes into opposition box
2 tackles won
1 assist
0 fouls
(via Squawka)
Heat map via Sofa Score
Ben Chilwell continuing in his more favoured left wing back role created 3 chances and also scored the opening goal. Marc Cucurella won the most tackles in the game (7).
Leicester did create chances but overall the win was fully deserved.
Graham Potter was pleased with another win to end the week and the teams performance.
“It’s been a good week, a really good week. Three wins, started with a determined performance against Leeds, the result against Dortmund and then to back it up today is really impressive from the players because it isn’t easy to do that in the Premier League."
He also said that the decision to substitute Joao Felix for Conor Gallagher was due to tactics and not injury.
"It was just tactical. I wanted to use an extra midfield player in there, so changed it a bit with Conor. I felt we needed somebody that could maybe ball-win, a little bit of a different profile in there. I thought Conor was fantastic when he came on." ( Chelsea FC)
He also spoke highly of Enzo and Mudryk who both provided assists in the game.
Chelsea’s next match is against Everton at Stamford Bridge next Saturday.
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