Chelsea head into the weekend looking to make it back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time this season as they face off against a misfiring Sheffield United side. This game looks a lot more winnable now than it might have just two weeks ago for Frank Lampard, his team are on the back of five clean sheets in a row, scoring 10 goals in the process Chelsea look to have found some form.
Sheffield United, however, have the air of a wounded animal around them, Chris Wilder’s side is yet to win this season and sit second bottom with just one point from their opening seven games. Admittedly, the Blades are coming off the back of valiant performances against last season’s top two. They played well against both Liverpool and Manchester City, but that is the unforgiving nature of the Premier League. Good performances don’t bring victories and Lampard will be drilling his Chelsea side to be merciless when they run out to take on Sheffield United.
Chelsea have some large demons to face
Chelsea’s topsy-turvy 2019/20 season was marred by strange runs of form and dropped points in places they simply shouldn’t have. Their two results against this weekend’s opposition sum that up perfectly. From 2-0 up at home against newly-promoted Sheffield United, Chelsea ended up with a point after conceding a late own goal, that was where they were at the early stages last season. The less said about their 3-0 away loss the better, Lampard was scarred by that result and it effectively ended the Chelsea careers of Andreas Christensen and to some extent Antonio Rudiger also.
But, this season both teams look very different. Sheffield United have struggled to get the same effectiveness out of their overlapping centre-backs and goalscoring seems a real problem despite spending upwards of £20 million on Rhian Brewster from Liverpool. They have scored just three goals so far this season and two of those have come from the spot.
How the sides have moved on
Chelsea, on the other hand, has £200 million worth of new players to set on their guests, and following a recent defensive transformation, they look the real deal. All be it, they would have expected to comfortably beat Champions League opponents FC Krasnodar and Rennes however the dogged displays against Manchester United and Sevilla highlighted a change of approach from Lampard. He is now determined to sure up a defence that let in 54 goals last season and unleash his beasts in attack.
The memories from last season’s matchups with Sheffield United will not have left the minds of the Chelsea players, but that being said, half of Chelsea’s starting 11 that day have been replaced. There is a positive carelessness and arrogance with Chelsea in the past few weeks that is a mark of a team full of confidence. Only the complete opposite can be said for Sheffield United.
Team News
No Ampadu as United look light in defence and attack
Both sides will be forced into changes from last weekends matches, Sheffield United will be without Chelsea loanee Ethan Ampadu for the game and that is a player they will hugely miss. The young Welshmen has been a player that has benefited from United’s poor start to the season as he has cemented his place in their strongest 11. His outstanding performance at Anfield was further proof of why Chelsea rate him so highly and also why Lampard will be secretly delighted that he will be sidelined for the match.
There are no new injury concerns for Wilder’s men but they will still be without centre-back Jack O’Connell who is out for the season and also Lys Mousset who isn’t expected to be back until after the international break.
Havertz to miss out and question marks around Pusilic
As for Chelsea, Kai Havertz is expected to miss the visit of Wilder’s side due to testing positive for Covid-19 in midweek. Havertz was deployed in a midfield three last week alongside Mason Mount in the ‘8’ role and the pair really clicked together. The German’s work rate off the ball and his effortless skill with it was a large part of, arguably, his most complete performance in a Blue shirt. Although he will be missed, Chelsea posses the midfield depth most sides envy. They have the facilities to call in last year’s player of the season Matteo Kovacic as a direct replacement; or they can switch to a double-pivot and use any mixture of N’Golo Kante, Matteo Kovacic, and Jorginho together.
Chelsea also took a hit last weekend as Christian Pulisic was withdrawn from the starting 11 with a hamstring injury in the warm-up. The American was still called up to his national side ahead of the upcoming international break however, following his recent injury record he is still a doubt for the weekend despite having already returned to training.
Expectations
If football was played on paper it would be a much less interesting sport. This season has already made as much clear. If any team is off their game then the opposition really do have the ability to cause upsets.
On the other hand, given Chelsea’s form, the impact of Thiago Silva and also Sheffield United’s poor scoring record it is hard to see anything other than a Chelsea win here. The Blues go in with much more confidence and Lampard will be determined not to let slip the good work that has been building throughout October.
That being said, Chris Wilder’s side will always play the same way and his teams will always give the same passion that their manager does on the sideline. If Chelsea turn up and expect to win then they could quite easily find themselves with a big shock on their hands.
Predicted line-ups
*This isn’t informed, simply my prediction and preferences*
Chelsea (4-3-3)
Edouard Mendy, Reece James, Kurt Zouma, Thiago Silva (C), Ben Chilwell, N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount, Matteo Kovacic, Timo Werner, Tammy Abraham, Callum Hudson-Odoi
Sheffield United (3-5-2)
Aaron Ramsdale, Chris Basham, John Egan, George Baldock, Sander Berge, Oliver Norwood, Ben Osborn, Max Lowe, Oli McBurnie, Rhian Brewster
Written by Tom Coley @tomcoley49
Edited by Jai Mcintosh @jjmcintosh5