Chelsea: Predicting a rampant victory against overlapping centerbacks

Chelsea hosts newly promoted Sheffield “overlapping centerbacks” United. Our contributors are expecting big things from the Blues.

Scott Brant: Chelsea 3-Sheffield United 1. Lampard’s first clean sheet won’t come this week either. I have given up all hope that Michy Batshuayi starts and features under Lampard. Chelsea should run over Sheffield with ease, I said the same thing last week about Norwich, and well that wasn’t with ease. Sheffield United is a tamer beast though, and shouldn’t be an issue regardless if N’Golo Kante and Pedro are out. Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount to have monster days with a goal each, and the third coming from a defender, set piece goal.

Abhishek Pancholi: 4-0.Despite protestations from various corners, Lampard will hand Abraham another start against The Blades. Abraham won’t disappoint, notching up two more goals, leaving Batshuayi reevaluating his life choices on the bench. Future England star, Mount, will add another goal after the break while Willian will round off the scoring in the 85th minute.

Olaoluwa Nwobodo: 4-0. It’s not going to be an easy game, which is why most of the goals will come in the final 15 minutes. Sheffield United will do their best to unsettle Chelsea and exploit the space Chelsea gifts them. They won’t succeed. Lampard and his boys will give Sheffield United the classic “welcome to the Premier League” drubbing. Chelsea will be too much for them. Abraham hat-trick (that boy can finish, damn!), Mount goal. Jorginho to finally get a Premier League assist, or two this season.

Kevin Peacock: 3-1. Fresh from last week’s win over Norwich, Lampard’s Chelsea face another side he’ll be familiar with as a manager. For Mount and Tambraham, they too will know the opposition well. The result of his game will depend, to a degree, on how much Jody Morris and SFL have managed to iron out the issues in Chelsea’s defence at Cobham through the week. Game on game there have improvements. It’s doubtful Lamps will ever master Jose Mourinho’s ability to park the bus, nor should he try. Outscoring the opposition is all that matters. Expect them to do that. Chelsea to win 3-1 goals from Tambraham, Mount and Emerson.

Nate Hofmann: 3-1. Saturday’s match will be Sheffield’s first crack at one of the “Big Six” Premier League clubs.  Much has been made about their unique tactics and style of play (overlapping centerbacks?!), but whether they’ll stick to their guns against more intimidating opposition is yet to be seen.  If I were Chris Wilder, I would be ecstatic that my first major challenge of the season is against Chelsea, who look like they’d struggle to keep a clean sheet against a set of training cones at the moment.  That said, some optimism within the Blades’ ranks could be to Chelsea’s benefit.

If the likes of Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic can get a bit of time on the ball in the final third, they should be able to create plenty of chances against a group of Sheffield defenders who tend to be closer to the center circle than their own penalty box.

If Chelsea is able to pile on the pressure as consistently as they did at Norwich, the Blues’ quality should be enough to earn Lampard his first managerial victory at Stamford Bridge.