Chelsea dropped points from a winning position after throwing away a 2-0 lead against Leeds in a space of just six minutes.
The hosts were in the ascendancy and played the visitors off the park for the majority of the game. Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer both scored to put Chelsea in a comfortable position.
However, one of Chelsea’s most influential players, Moises Caicedo, gave away a penalty after tripping James Justin inside Chelsea’s penalty area in the 67th minute. Lukas Nmecha got his side back in the game after converting from the penalty spot.
However, things went from bad to worse for the Blues as Noah Okafor equalised as Chelsea shot themselves in the foot by making plenty of unforgivable mistakes leading up to Leeds’s second goal.
The Blues put themselves in a massive hole after being their own worst enemy. They threw the kitchen sink at Leeds for the remaining 23 minutes of the match. However, Cole Palmer missed an open goal from two yards out after having a golden opportunity to win the game for his side.
The Chelsea players will be kicking themselves after missing out on an opportunity to overtake Manchester United and to go 4th in the Premier League table because the Red Devils drew to West Ham 1-1 at the London Stadium. As it stands, Liam Rosenior’s side still remains 5th in the Premier League table.
Chelsea continue to shoot themselves in the foot
The Blues have dropped 17 points from winning positions this season in the Premier League, with 15 of them coming at Stamford Bridge.
This indicates that, as a result of making endless mistakes defensively, it is a tall task for this Chelsea side to see out results. The Leeds match was another prime example of why Chelsea has struggled to close out matches this season.
The hosts were winning the match 2-0 up until the 67th minute. Leeds were on the ropes and all over the place for the majority of the match. Chelsea were in the ascendancy, they had a 3.65xg and were playing some brilliant football throughout the game.
Yet, despite this, the hosts lost their concentration for just six minutes and paid a heavy price for it. One of Chelsea’s biggest issues this season is that they are unable to concentrate for 90 minutes without making any silly mistakes.
This is because the Blues are lacking an experienced veteran such as Thiago Silva, who will be able to show the younger players, particularly the Chelsea centre-backs, how to get across the finish line when the going gets tough.
A large portion of the Chelsea fanbase has constantly stated that the Blues hierarchy has to sign experienced veterans. This is because they would prevent the young players from making regular mistakes, as Josh Acheampong did for the visitors’ second goal after he failed to clear the ball.
Chelsea were on top against teams like Aston Villa, Brighton, and Leeds, for example, but they still managed to drop points. Being able to win matches from winning positions, especially at home, is something that Chelsea must improve at.
Despite the hosts not being able to pick up all three points, there is no denying that Liam Rosenior’s side put in a great performance. Chelsea were constantly breaking the lines, especially in the middle of the park through Andrey Santos and Cole Palmer. The opening goal of the match came from Santos breaking the lines and finding Palmer in space, who played a delightful through ball to Joao Pedro.
Chelsea were constantly finding space in the middle of the park, and as a result, they created plenty of chances. The Blues had 3.65 XG; they created 4 big chances and had 19 shots throughout the match. On top of this, the hosts kept Daniel Farke’s side pinned back in their own half and put them under a huge amount of pressure.
The one downside was that despite having 19 shots, only four were on target. This implies that the Blues have to do a significantly better job of finishing their chances and being a lot more composed in front of the goal. Leeds had no answers for everything that Chelsea threw in their direction, especially for the first 67 minutes of the match.
This is a performance that the Stamford Bridge outfit can potentially build off moving forward towards the end of the season. Although the results need to match superb performances like this, and against Leeds, that clearly wasn’t the case.
Unable to pick up maximum points from five favourable games
One of the key reasons why Chelsea needed to pick up maximum points from those five matches is that their schedule at the end of the season is very tricky and difficult on paper. Now, the maximum number of points that they can get from those five respective matches is 13 if they manage to beat Burnley at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea couldn’t afford to slip up in even one of those matches because they are looking to finish in the top four.
This means that they have to put up as many points on the board as possible in order to finish in the Champions League places at the end of the season.
The Blues still have to play Arsenal at the Emirates, Aston Villa at Villa Park, Manchester City and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge, as well as Liverpool at Anfield. All of those fixtures will bring plenty of challenges, so the Blues needed to pick up maximum points in the “easier” fixtures.
However, by dropping points to the Whites at home, Liam Rosenior’s side have now given themselves less room for error during a very difficult end of the season, if they want to reach their objective. There is an argument to be made that this current Chelsea side plays better in the bigger and trickier matches.
However, Chelsea are playing some of the best teams in the Premier League, including Arsenal, who are the heavy favourites to win the title this season.
Every single point in the Premier League matters, and dropping points to teams like Leeds, Brighton, Brentford, Crystal Palace in the opening match of the season and others could potentially result in the Blues missing out on Champions League football next season.
Cole Palmer slowly but surely re-finding his spark again
Except for missing a clear-cut chance in the 94th minute, this was a great all-around performance from Chelsea’s star. The attacking midfielder scored a first-half hat trick against Wolves, and he continued his good form against Leeds. The 23-year-old was at the heart of the majority of Chelsea’s attacks. The former Man City player found himself in constant pockets of space by moving off the ball.
As a result, he kept putting Leeds under the cosh by creating chances for his teammates and breaking the lines. He finished the game with one goal, one assist and ten touches inside Leeds’s penalty area. The playmaker has five goal contributions in his last two Premier League matches.
Liam Rosenior will be hoping that Palmer has put all the injuries behind him and that he can be as close to 100 per cent as possible physically. The 23-year-old is a game-changer for this Chelsea side, and his last two performances have once again highlighted just how important the England International is to this Chelsea team.
The Blues will be hoping that Palmer continues to play at such a high level because they will need him to be at his best during a vital stretch of the season.