Chelsea came from behind to defeat Leicester City 4-2 and progress to the Fourth Round of the EFL Cup. Here are five lessons we learned.
A Tuesday night was rescued from being a nightmare as Chelsea overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat Leicester City 4-2. The win brings Antonio Conte’s men to the fourth round of the EFL Cup with only three stages separating them from a Wembley final. Let’s take a look at five lessons from the dramatic victory.
Batshuayi has talent but is still raw – Travis Tyler
Many have begged Antonio Conte to grant Michy Batshuayi more minutes. The skipper finally gave him his chance against Premier League opposition from the start against Leicester City. And the result was, well, mixed.
Batshuayi managed a few decent chances on goal, but was kept off the scoresheet. He struggled with the pace of the game at times, and did not really look his best until he briefly played alongside Diego Costa.
This match showcased that Batshuayi is not a player knocking on the door to the starting XI. He is still very raw. For every moment of quality he also had several where he looked out of sorts. This is by no means an issue currently, and it still would not be surprising to find him in the starting lineup by the end of the season.
His link-up with Diego Costa showed quite a bit of promise in the event that Chelsea switches to a two-striker system. He looked much sharper next to Costa. With Ruben Loftus-Cheek as his partner, he was sometimes the lone striker. These were the moments he struggled the most. The talent is there, but it needs to be refined and used in the right way for Conte to get the best out of Batshuayi.