Chelsea signed eight players in January which took their total spending for the season to more than £600m; They have won just once in their last 11 matches as pressure rises on Graham Potter; Chelsea host Leeds on Saturday before their Champions League tie vs Dortmund on Tuesday
Graham Potter has a £600m problem facing him at Chelsea as the under-pressure head coach prepares for two crucial matches against Leeds and Dortmund.
Chelsea have won just once in their last 11 games across all competitions, scoring just four goals in that time and sit 14 points behind fourth-placed Tottenham.
Image:Graham Potter looks on at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Eight January signings totalling over £323m took their spending for the season to more than £600m and bolstered the squad up to 31 players – but it has left Potter with several headaches over what his best XI is.
Sky Sports attempts to make sense of Chelsea’s options…
Chelsea’s first team
Goalkeepers: Edouard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Gabriel Slonina, Marcus Bettinelli
Defenders: Reece James, Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Wesley Fofana, Benoit Badiashile, Trevoh Chalobah, Kalidou Koulibaly, Ben Chilwell, Marc Cucurella,
Midfielders: Enzo Fernandez, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Denis Zakaria, Mason Mount, Conor Gallagher, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Carney Chukwuemeka
Forwards: Mykhailo Mudryk, Kai Havertz, Joao Felix, Raheem Sterling, Christian Pulisic, Noni Madueke, Armando Broja, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Hakim Ziyech, David Fofana
The injury list
Potter has had to contend with a staggering injury list during his tenure at the club, but the number of unavailable players is subsiding.
However, Thiago Silva limped off after just 19 minutes in their 2-0 defeat at Tottenham, suffering knee ligament damage with reports claiming he could be out for as long as six weeks.
N’Golo Kante, though, is nearing a long-awaited return from a hamstring strain having not played since August and has returned to training. Christian Pulisic is also close to being available following a problem with his knee sustained at the beginning of January.
Cesar Azpilicueta is undergoing concussion protocol after being discharged from hospital last week having been kicked in the head against Southampton.
Chelsea’s 18 signings
- Benoit Badiashile – Monaco, £35m
- Andrey Santos – Vasco da Gama, £18m
- David Datro Fofana – Molde, £10m
- Joao Felix – Atletico Madrid, loan
- Mykhailo Mudryk – Shakhtar Donetsk, £88.5m
- Noni Madueke – PSV, £29m
- Malo Gusto – Lyon, £26.3m
- Raheem Sterling – Manchester City, £47.5m
- Kalidou Koulibaly – Napoli, £34m
- Omari Hutchinson – Arsenal, free
- Gabriel Slonina – Chicago Fire, £12m
- Carney Chukwuemeka – Aston Villa, £20m
- Marc Cucurella – Brighton, £63m
- Cesare Casadei – Inter Milan, £16.6m
- Wesley Fofana – Leicester, £75m
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Barcelona, £10.3m
- Denis Zakaria – Juventus, loan
- Enzo Fernandez – Benfica, £105m
Another option in midfield for Potter will be Mateo Kovacic, who missed the Spurs game through illness but no return date has been set for Edouard Mendy following surgery on a broken finger in January.
Armando Broja had knee surgery on an injury picked up during the mid-season break and is not expected to be fit again this term.
Four at the back vs three at the back
Potter appears to have settled on a 4-2-3-1 formation after initially deploying three at the back, but both systems have been almost as unsuccessful as each other.
Of Potter’s 18 Premier League matches, 11 have been with a back four and the other seven with three. Chelsea have lost a game more with four in defence, conceded two fewer goals and kept two fewer clean sheets – but three at the back has earned just one victory.
However, playing with three central defenders has seen Chelsea score three more goals, have more shots and have a higher xG from a smaller pool of matches.
Image:Ben Chilwell is back from injury for Chelsea
Reece James and Ben Chilwell both started at right-back and left-back respectively in the defeat to Spurs. In the eight times when they’ve played together this season, Chelsea have won four matches and lost two compared to four wins in 16 when at least one of them has been missing.
James and Chilwell have both excelled as wing-backs in previous seasons and Potter may be tempted to switch to a back three to accommodate them in those positions, particularly given their struggles in attack with the current system.
Kepa holds No.1 shirt
Image:Kepa Arrizabalaga and Edouard Mendy’s Premier League stats compared
Kepa Arrizabalaga has nailed down the spot ever since Mendy’s form nosedived at the start of the season before he was dropped following Potter’s appointment.
Mendy’s lack of fitness since the World Cup coupled with starting in defeats to Arsenal, Man City and Newcastle in November, when Kepa was injured, further damaged his case for the No. 1 shirt.
Kepa’s stats are stronger and show that he has not made an error that has directly led to a goal, unlike Mendy.
Who should replace Silva?
Image:Chelsea’s defensive stats in the Premier League this season
With Azpilicueta currently injured, there is even less of a debate as to whether James should start at right back. It’s on the other flank where Potter has a decision to make.
Marc Cucurella has struggled since his £60m move from Brighton last August with criticism even extending to the twitter account of co-owner Todd Boehly which appeared to like a tweet of an article stating the left-back was not good enough to play for the club.
Image:A comparison of Marc Cucurella and Ben Chilwell’s Premier League stats this season
The 24-year-old, who was a victim of a burglary shortly after joining Chelsea, was booed by fans last month, but his stats tell a somewhat different story of his struggles when compared to Chilwell.
Cucurella’s numbers are skewed by the fact he has played more than double the minutes of Chilwell in the Premier League so perhaps Potter removing him from the firing line like against Tottenham is a sign of things to come.
Image:Thiago Silva’s Premier League stats compared to other Chelsea centre-backs this season
The injury to Silva comes as a huge blow to Chelsea with the Brazil defender their best centre-back. Kalidou Koulibaly has had a mixed time in his debut season, committing 19 fouls which is 11 more than the next closest in Silva while also losing the most aerial duels – but he does outperform Trevoh Chalobah statistically.
Chalobah was not in the squad for the Tottenham defeat despite having solid underlying statistics from his 13 Premier League matches. Chelsea have conceded five more goals without him in the team than he has started.
Image:Trevoh Chalobah and Kalidou Koulibaly’s defensive stats from the Premier League compared
Benoit Badiashile has had a better time in his five games than Wesley Fofana in his four. Badiashile has made more tackles, clearances, won more aerial duels and has better passing accuracy.
Who should partner Fernandez?
Enzo Fernandez has half the amount of assists (1) than Mason Mount despite playing 19 fewer Premier League matches. The British-record signing has impressed in his four Premier League run-outs, but he can’t make Chelsea tick all by himself.
Conor Gallagher, Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Denis Zakaria and Carney Chukwuemeka are the options available to Potter for Fernandez’s partner.
Image:Conor Gallagher and Mateo Kovacic’s Premier League stats compared
Gallagher has played the most matches (21) compared to Kovacic (16) and Loftus-Cheek (16), and has made the most tackles. But Kovacic has won possession the most in the middle third and is much better on the ball, completing 591 passes. Potter may prefer the control he can bring.
Kante has played just twice this season although his energy and ball-winning capability will make a strong case for inclusion while Chukwuemeka and Zakaria have had limited minutes and clearly aren’t to be trusted yet.
Mudryk in a muddle
Image:Chelsea’s attacking stats in the Premier League this season
The £88m Mykhailo Mudryk has failed to impress in five Premier League appearances by not creating a chance, not having a shot on target and completing just two dribbles.
Chelsea’s other new winger, Noni Madueke, a £29m January signing, has also made no impact although does at least have two shots on target to his name.
Joao Felix has fared better with 15 shots and one goal while Raheem Sterling is the leading wide player with four goals and two assists. He also has the most shots on target and most dribbles.
Image:A comparison of Mykhailo Mudryk and Joao Felix’s Premier League stats
Potter’s faith in Hakim Ziyech appears misplaced. The Morocco winger is yet to score and has produced one assist in 13 appearances, Mount is out in front in terms of minutes played (1640) yet his season has been unproductive seeing just nine shots on target from 32 of which only three have gone in.
Christian Pulisic has had familiar problems with injury although of the six games he’s started, Chelsea have won three and lost two. But with Felix and Sterling also vying for the left-wing spot, the American remains down the pecking order.
For all the talk of Chelsea’s striker problem, their lack of creativity from midfield and wide areas is apparent.
Keep faith in Kai
Image:Kai Havertz has scored five Premier League goals this season
With five goals and one assist, Kai Havertz remains Chelsea’s first-choice striker ahead of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and new signing David Fofana. Havertz also offers a threat in the air with 54 aerial duels won and 21 headed clearances.
Aubameyang has scored once and not registered an assist, having only 10 shots, and was omitted from Chelsea’s Champions League squad.
Fofana has played just an hour of football since joining in January with two shots on target from three.
The line-ups:
Image:A potential Chelsea XI in a 4-2-3-1 formation
4-2-3-1: Kepa; James, Chalobah, Koulibaly, Chilwell; Fernandez, Kovacic; Sterling, Mount, Felix; Havertz.
Image:A potential Chelsea XI in a 3-4-2-1 formation
3-4-2-1: Kepa; Chalobah, Koulibaly, Badiashile; James, Fernandez, Kovacic, Chilwell; Felix, Sterling; Havertz.
Chelsea’s next five fixtures…
Saturday March 4: Leeds (H) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
Tuesday March 7: Borussia Dortmund (H) – Champions League, kick-off 8pm
Saturday March 11: Leicester (A) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
Saturday March 18: Everton (H) – Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports
Saturday April 1: Aston Villa (H) – Premier League, kick-off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports
SOURCE: skysports.com
