Team
news, stats and prediction ahead of Chelsea vs Leeds in the Premier League
on Saturday; kick-off 3pm.
Team news
Jorginho will play through the pain of a back problem to ease Chelsea's
midfield injury issues in Saturday's Premier League clash with Leeds.
Mateo Kovacic continues isolation after testing positive for Covid-19, while
N'Golo Kante could make a tentative return to training next week after knee
trouble but will not feature at Stamford Bridge this weekend.
Trevoh Chalobah (hamstring) and Ben Chilwell (knee) will also be missing.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel confirmed that Jorginho's availability will allow
Reece James the chance to shift back to his regular right wing-back role.
"Reecey will start as a wing-back, and we will find other formations
elsewhere," said Tuchel. "If something should happen to Jorgi for example at
the hotel before tomorrow then we would need a solution, so we wanted to see
Reece there in real life and to try Saul in a new position as well. But
there's no need tomorrow to try these things."
Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa is facing up to an injury crisis of his own after
losing three players in last week's draw with Brentford.
Kalvin Phillips, Liam Cooper and Patrick Bamford all sustained hamstring
injuries in the fixture and are expected to be sidelined for a number of
weeks.
Rodrigo is also expected to be absent with a heel injury, while Robin Koch
will not be rushed back from the pelvic issue which has ruled him out since
September.
Jones Knows prediction
Chelsea had conceded a league-low four goals from 12 games before facing
Manchester United last month but have shipped five in three since the 1-1
draw at Stamford Bridge - and three at Zenit in midweek. Their much talked
about - well, in this column anyway - defensive overperformance is now
regressing to a more realistic figure.
They are approaching a crossroads in their season. Is it just a blip? Or
will the drop from their insanely high levels allow Liverpool and Manchester
City to stride clear and do battle for the Premier League title? We'll know
more after the Christmas period.
What is in their favour here is the opponent - and more importantly, who is
missing for their opponent. Leeds have lost nine of their 13 matches without
Kalvin Phillips. It's a win percentage that drops from 45 per cent with him
in the team to 23 per cent without.
Plus, Leeds' style notoriously leaves them very vulnerable to quality
individuals and goals can be expected when they play a top-eight side. All
of their 10 away games against teams that finished in the top-eight since
they were promoted have seen over 2.5 goals, at an average of 4.6 goals per
90 minutes. In those 10 fixtures, Leeds have conceded a combined expected
goals figure of 24.98, just under 2.5 goals per 90 minutes. A Chelsea
victory in a goal-filled game is the play.
SCORE PREDICTION: 3-1
BETTING ANGLE: Chelsea to win and over 3.5 goals (2/1 with Sky Bet)
Opta stats
Chelsea have won their last four home league games against Leeds - they've
never won five in a row against them at Stamford Bridge.
Leeds are winless in their last six meetings with Chelsea in all
competitions (D2 L4), since a 2-0 home win in December 2002.
Chelsea conceded more than twice for just the second time in 34 Premier
League games under Thomas Tuchel in their 3-2 loss at West Ham last time
out. In fact, the Blues have conceded more goals in their last three Premier
League games (5) than they had in their first 12 combined this season (4).
Leeds have won just two of their last 32 away matches in London in all
competitions (D7 L23) and have lost two of their last three games when
scoring first in the capital: against Chelsea last December and Spurs in
November (won 2-1 in the other vs Fulham).
Both Chelsea and Leeds have scored a joint league-high three goals in the
90th minute of Premier League games this season; Chelsea's three have put
the gloss on already won games for them, while Leeds' three have either been
winning (1) or equalising (2) strikes.
Mason Mount has both scored and assisted a goal in three of his last four
Premier League starts for Chelsea, with the English midfielder scoring five
and assisting three in these games. Mount has the most league goals (9) and
assists (6) of any Chelsea player under Thomas Tuchel.
Raphinha has scored six of Leeds' 15 Premier League goals this season, with
no other player at the club netting more than twice so far this term. His
six goals have been worth seven points to the Whites, with only Jamie
Vardy's strikes being more valuable to his side this season (8).
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