GW 4: Chelsea vs. Sheffield United

This weekend, for matchweek four of the new Premier League season, there are a number of top matchups that will be on show, but one that has perhaps gone under the radar slightly is Chelsea against Sheffield United. Although these teams are still very clearly far apart in terms of their skill levels and the quality of the players that they have, Sheffield United have looked like a surprisingly strong side in the opening few weeks, and they look like the type of team that could cause the big boys some problems, due to their solid defensive organization and their confusing but effective tactics. Interestingly, Sheffield United are actually ahead of Chelsea in the Premier League table at the moment by goal difference and the two sides are tied on 4 points each; however, Sheffield have admittedly played against weaker opposition and it will be interesting to see if they can keep their lead. These sides have only ever played against each other twice in the Premier League, and these matches came back in the 2006/07 season which was the last time that Sheffield were in the division. In these matches, Chelsea were able to win both as this was a strong period for the club, managing 3-0 and 2-0 victories. Obviously, this will be a completely different match, a stunning 13 years later, and with Chelsea’s dominance fading over that time while Sheffield seem to be on an upward spiral, the result could be very different.

Chelsea have had a difficult start to this season, and they haven’t looked particularly assured when playing some of the bigger sides; however, it’s still very early into the campaign and they’ll be expecting an improvement. At the moment, they have struggled against all the sides they have played against but they still managed to win last week when away at Carrow Road. Against Norwich, they came out on top, 3-2, in what was an incredibly exciting game for the neutral, with plenty of goals, and good ones too. This is slightly problematic for Chelsea though, as it shows that they have a strong attack, but they are still struggling defensively even against some of the weaker teams. They have been slightly unlucky though, as expected goals shows that they should have only conceded 4.40 goals given the chances that they have allowed their opponents to have, while they have actually let in 7, showing that they have been on the wrong side of some strong finishing. They’ll still have to improve on this in their upcoming game though, and they will also have to adjust their team so that they can counteract Sheffield’s style of play. One thing that Lampard should continue with, is his use of an attacking midfield player, as they will be able to push up towards the other attackers and potentially put a lot of pressure on the Sheffield back three. This will work well with the inverted wingers that Lamprd tends to use, as when they come centrally, their could be as many as four players directly on Sheffield’s centre-backs.

This means that Mason Mount should yet again perform an important role in Lampard’s system. The 20 year old seems a better option than Barkley for this game as he is considered to be a more advanced player which is what Chelsea will be looking for against a newly promoted side. Mount has started the season strongly with 2 Premier League goals to his name already, and Lampard seems to have a lot of faith in him which has given him the confidence to succeed. In this game you would assume that Mount would play on the left side of a midfield three, as the more attacking midfielder, in an interchanging role with Pulisic on the left wing, where they will take turns coming inside and going wide. This fluidity will undoubtedly cause the Sheffield centre-backs some issues, and we’ve already seen Mount and Pulisic link up well at the start of the season. At the base of midfield, Jorginho will also be important for this Chelsea side as he should have a lot of work to do in this game. Interestingly, Lampard has started Jorginho as the deepest lying midfielder, like former manager Maurizio Sarri, although many people thought he would switch Kante to this role, and this puts a lot of pressure on the Italian, as while he can certainly do the creative side of his job, it’s questionable if he will succeed defensively. He hasn’t started the new season brilliantly with only 65 passes per 90 which includes a mere 0.4 key passes, and this will have to improve against Sheffield in their upcoming game if he is going to be dictating the game from deep.

Sheffield United have had a better start to the season than Chelsea simply due to how far they have exceeded expectations in the opening weeks. While many people considered them as nailed on relegation candidates, they have managed to take 4 points from the opening 3 games in what has looked like a really positive start, in which they have deserved the points that they’ve earned. Their most recent Premier League game was by far their most disappointing, as they lost 2-1 to Leicester; however there were still a lot of positives to take from the game. Expected goals had this game at 0.70 to 0.65 in Leicester’s favour which shows that a draw would have been a fair result based on the chances created, and when you look at this metric, you can see that Sheffield United actually defended very well in this match against a top 6 contender. This means that there isn’t much that Chris Wilder should change coming into this match, and if his side keep performing at this level they’ll give most teams a hard time. One thing they’ll want to make sure of though, is that they keep their defensive system compact, especially in the central defensive area, as this is where Chelsea will have a lot of players pressuring. Like mentioned earlier, Chelsea will likely have three to four players in and around their central attacking area when in possession, so in order to avoid an overload, Sheffield will want their wing-backs to come inside and support the centre-backs. This should be effective in overcrowding the Chelsea forwards in a similar way to what Newcastle did against Spurs. 

Off the right hand side of defence, George Baldock could be vital for Sheffield United, both with and without the ball. Baldock played brilliantly against Leicester, as he grabbed an assist, and has had a very good start to the season as the right wing-back in Wilder’s formation. In this match, he will be directly up against Mount and Pulisic who, as mentioned earlier, should be very dangerous in this match, and he’ll have to tuck inside to deal with these two players. Baldock has been making 2.7 tackles and interceptions per match so far in the Premier League and although these aren’t fantastic numbers, they’re not bad for such an attacking full-back. Baldock will also play a role offensively, as Sheffield United love to cross the ball, with big players such as Oliver McBurnie in the middle, and Baldock has often been responsible for providing width to the side along with left wing-back Enda Stevens. Another player who has impressed during the opening few weeks is central midfielder John Lundstram who barely played for them in the 2018/19 season but has found himself in a new role that seemingly fits him perfectly. Last year Sheffield United were playing with a 3-4-1-2 formation but this year they have shifted to a 3-5-2 to increase their defensive stability against Premier League level opponents which in turn has given Lundstram a spot on the right side of the three man midfield. Lundstram is very defensively solid, starting the season with 3 tackles and interceptions per match, which will be important in this game as he’ll have to drop deeper to cover Mason Mount who will presumably be playing on the left side of midfield. He is also taking 1.7 shots per game and he has often found himself in good areas of the field, usually off of crosses or balls into the box with 0.96 expected goals from his first three games.

Chelsea are struggling badly with injuries at the moment as a number of key players could have to miss this game. Youngsters Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Reece James are all still suffering from long term injuries in which they obtained last season while Rudiger, Pedro, Kante and Mount are all doubts for this game. Kante, Mount and Pedro have all suffered from smaller problems over the last few games and while they theoretically should be able to make it back for this game, it’s not certain, and Lampard will be hoping they can make it back to full fitness before the match. Rudiger has recently returned from a knee injury that has kept him out for the opening few weeks but it’s not clear if he’ll be able to play, as he is lacking match fitness and has only been in regular training for a short while. These injuries could have a big affect on Chelsea’s squad, especially in midfield, and if Kante and Mount were to miss this game you’d feel that Chelsea would be relatively tame in the middle of the park. For Sheffield, only John Fleck has an injury at the moment, as he had to be subbed off against Crystal Palace on matchweek 2. Currently, Freeman has been filling in in that role, as the most advanced of the three midfielders, and has done the job quite well but you’d assume that if Fleck was available for this game he would be Wilder’s preferred option.

This match is definitely going to be a lot closer than most people might be thinking, as Sheffield United have been largely unnoticed by casual football fans up to this point, but when you look deeper into what they are doing, you see that Wilder and the rest of the team have a clear plan of action coming into this new season. Their defensive solidity will make it hard for the bigger sides to break them down, with Chelsea no exception, and when you consider how poor the Blues have been defensively under Lampard, there is definitely the possibility that Sheffield score a goal or two away from home. Obviously, the fact that Chelsea are at home in this match will grant them an advantage; however, in the one competitive home game that they have played under Lampard, they didn’t look brilliant as this was in their 1-1 draw with Leicester in which they were potentially the worse side. As for the Blades, it’s very hard to judge if Bramall Lane will be a fortress for them or whether their away form will be strong, and this game could give us a slight indication. Even though Sheffield United are still an unknown quantity in the Premier League while they could be able to surprise the Blues, at home, you wouldn't expect Chelsea to lose and I’m no different. I predict a 2-1 Chelsea win.