Enzo Maresca’s side made the trip up north as heavy favourites to bag all three points and keep the pressure on league leaders Arsenal. Instead, the exact opposite happened, and Leeds climbed out of the relegation zone with a crucial 3-1 win. That Premier League, eh?
It took just six minutes for the West Yorkshire club to break the deadlock at Elland Road, defender Jaka Bijol heading Anton Stach’s header beyond Robert Sanchez, who was furious with his teammates.
Chelsea dominated possession but did very little with it from then on, looking out of ideas coming up against a back five. In pursuit of an equaliser, Ao Tanaka doubled Leeds’ lead just before the break.
Pedro Neto replaced Estevao at half time and made an instant impact, pulling one back for his side in the 50th minute. Again, Chelsea had most of the ball and were looking good for an eventual equaliser, but a Tosin Adarabioyo howler gifted Dominic Calvert-Lewin a goal, which completely took the wind out of their sales.
A very bad night for uncle Tosin
The 28-year-old is a much-loved figure in the Chelsea dressing room, but those good vibes aren’t enough to excuse his performance against Leeds and so far this season as a whole. What does Josh Acheampong have to do to get some minutes?
Chelsea were well and truly on top with the score at 2-1. Cole Palmer made his return, probably should have scored following some good work from Alejandro Garnacho, but he should be forgiven for being a little rusty.
Then, Tosin received the ball from Malo Gusto and was immediately closed down by Noah Okafor following the defender’s heavy touch, allowing the Leeds forward to set Calvert-Lewin up and secure all three points.
What’s most worrying for Chelsea is that some of their worst results have come when Tosin started. Their backline has to drop a few feet back to help facilitate his lack of mobility. We probably won’t see him for a while after this one, though.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin finding form at the right time
Leeds have been crying out for a consistent goal scorer since earning promotion back to the Premier League. They’re not easy to find, but after a couple of seasons in which he’s really struggled, Calvert-Lewin may have just saved Daniel Farke from a major conundrum.
His goal against Chelsea wasn’t particularly hard, in fact it would have been impossible to miss from what looked like less than a yard away from the goal line, but like his strike against Man City in the previous round of fixtures, he was in the right place at the right time.
Getting into the right position and anticipating play is crucial for any decent striker, and these two goals will be a huge confidence boost for a player that has suffered through various injury issues in recent years.
This is why Chelsea aren’t title contenders
Don’t expect to hear much talk of Chelsea challenging for the Premier League title after this one. Yes, they will probably get some good wins between now and the end of the season, but their inconsistency will ultimately be their undoing.
There aren’t many sides that will go from a 3-0 win against Barcelona, a really impressive 1-1 draw vs Arsenal with ten men, and then a 3-1 defeat to Leeds. With the youngest squad in the league, and a manager still learned on the job, results like this are kind of inevitable.
Maresca has also been somewhat hamstrung by the club’s transfer policy. The higher ups are actively encouraging him to rotate as much as possible, and that lack of a settled starting eleven, isn’t doing Chelsea any favours, currently at least.