Chelsea key clashes at Sheffield: Battle of the substitutes

3. Lampard’s subs vs. Wilder’s subs

No one has benefitted from the five substitute rule as much as Frank Lampard. On more than one occasion, Lampard has introduced a raft of new players who propelled Chelsea to victory after looking down-and-out before their introduction. The matches against Aston Villa, Leicester City and Crystal Palace were all won by substitutes.

For Sheffield United, their highest scoring player—Mousset—has spent much of the season coming off the bench. It’s clear that Wilder has a very specific plan for how to use the French forward, and their league position suggests it’s an effective strategy, even if the logic seems a bit twisted. The Blades have only scored 35 goals, tied for fifth-lowest in the league. On the flipside, they’ve only conceded 33, tied for third-fewest. Point is, they’re playing on thin margins with their best attacker coming off the bench. Hey, but what do I know?

Interestingly, Wilder has only used more than the traditional three substitutions once since the rule was put into place. This could indicate that he has a script in his mind for how each match will play out, and designs his subbing strategy to suit that predetermined plot. Or, he just doesn’t trust most of his bench. Either way, it’s something Chelsea’s staff surely will have noticed, and it can be taken advantage of.

Lampard has the good fortune of having an extremely deep pool of solid players at his disposal, albeit fewer now that Kante and Gilmour aren’t available. While he hasn’t necessarily been using all five subs every match—in fact he’s only done it once—he has wielded in the one caveat of the rule to great effect: that you can only bring your substitutes on in three intervals, meaning double and triple changes are far more common.

Take the Palace match for instance. Chelsea’s third goal came from a chipped ball by Loftus-Cheek to play Abraham in behind to slot past Vincente Guaita. The two academy graduates had come on together just a few minutes earlier. Lampard’s understanding of the effects certain duos and trios will have on a match allows him to reconstruct the flow of play in a way that benefits his side.

On Saturday, Lampard’s substituting skills will be majorly tested. This Sheffield United side is a tricky puzzle to figure out, with its unconventional overlapping and positioning of players often causing confusion and mistakes by the Blades’ opposition. Lampard will likely figure it out at some point and begin making changes that can counteract the sense of discomfort and unfamiliarity the Blades try to impose. Wilder will counter that with subs of his own that realign and refocus his own side, and things will go back and forth from there. That tete-a-tete will define the second half and eventually elicit a winner—or two draw-ers.

Or, Chelsea will come out firing, have the match sewn up by halftime, and we’ll see some long-forgotten faces get a runout for the fun of it. Plan for the former, hope for the latter.

What are the key clashes you’ll be keeping an eye on? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!