Manchester United are slowly getting closer to their first Premier League match since 1 February, when this coming Monday they travel to London to meet Chelsea. The clash at Stamford Bridge will be a very interesting one, for more reasons then we expected just few days ago. One of those is the race for the Champions League spot, which, it seems now, will also be the fifth place in the standings, due to the ban UEFA imposed on Manchester City.
We spoke about that the other day when the ban happened and how that changed perspective for Man United, but also other clubs around them. Also, this match will be an interesting one, because of their first match last August, when the Devils thrashed the Blues 4-0 in a match that was very far from such a scoreline. Also, there are some lessons to be learned from Chelsea that are not coming from the on-the-pitch performances.
How Are Chelsea Doing?
In terms of league position, Chelsea are doing fine. In terms of performances, Chelsea are not completely reliable, but are still getting necessary results. In terms of the whole context, we should admit that Chelsea are doing really good. Considering that last summer Chelsea appointed a manager with just one season in management under his belt, had lost Eden Hazard, the single most influential player in the league (Kevin De Bruyne, for example, was not so crucial to Man City as Hazard was to Chelsea), and that they also could not sign new players during the summer transfer, Chelsea in fourth place is good.
The thing is that it never happened that a team had 41 points after 25 matches and stood in fourth place – but that is the problem of the overall quality of the league, too. But looking more from a micro-perspective, Chelsea are in poor form with just one win in last five league matches, and that one was against Burnley.
They have been losing points against Brighton, Newcastle, Southampton, Bournemouth, Everton… There are some obvious defensive issues in this Chelsea side, but also some of that is due to having a lot of young players who are not accustomed to being so important parts of such a strong team so quickly.
Where Lies The Danger?
Tammy Abraham is his name and he has been scoring goals this season despite many thinking he will not be good enough. But his mixture of athleticism, long strides and physical strength has given him a good platform. He is also a good enough poacher that sometimes has issues with finishing, but 13 goals from a 12.81 expected goals is good, keeping him at very high 0.59 xG per 90 minutes.
Chelsea Already Buying For Summer
And then there is that thing Man United could learn from Chelsea. The Blues have already announced their first signing for the summer transfer window and that is some signing – Hakim Ziyech from Ajax. The fact that they have signed him for 45 million euros tells a lot, since Man United had to spend more than six months to get Bruno Fernandes for much more money with much less European experience at the highest level. Ziyech is a shrewd business for a team that has to add creativity to their team. Ed Woodward could learn a thing or two.
Leave a Reply