The numbers behind Chelsea’s draw away to Manchester United

Chelsea came away from Old Trafford with a nil nil draw. What do the numbers say about the Blues in attack, transition, and defense?

Chelsea lined up in a 3-4-3 formation. The back three was probably used to provide the team with more defensive solidity in central areas. Given Thiago Silva is not very fast, having him in the center of a three-man defense provided him with protection against the pace of United’s attacking players, especially Marcus Rashford and Daniel James. Further, it allowed for the inclusion of our club captain Cesar Azpilicueta who was crucial in defense.

The back three allowed the Blues to make use of the strengths of Reece James and Ben Chilwell going forward. They had to the freedom to move up the pitch and join the attack, creating an almost 3-2-5 formation with a double pivot of N’Golo Kante and Jorginho. This allowed for Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic to drift into the half-spaces and play quick short high-speed paces in the attacking third.

While there were some promising moments in attack, it was the defense that did better for the Blues this game.

Attacking in transition 

Transition in the attacking phases mainly came from wider areas for the Blues. This was because United pressed the backline and tried to cut the passing lanes into the double pivot, especially Jorginho, in order to prevent ball progression from central areas. This is illustrated by the top links in terms of progressive passes. The top links included Chilwell to Pulisic (five), Azpilicueta to Havertz (five), Chilwell to Kante (five), and James to Timmo Werner (three).

Mateo Kovacic often plays a crucial role in the transition to attack by carrying the ball forward. In his absence, Havertz often dropped deeper to start attacks, He completed two of his four attempted dribbles and won three of his eight offensive duels in the center of the park.

Creation and attacks 

In terms of creation, Chelsea relied on quick switches of play to the flanks to find Reece James and Ben Chilwell. This can be seen through the top passing links into the final third. The top passing link into the final third was: Azpilicueta to James, Kurt Zouma to Chilwell, Werner to Chilwell, Silva to Pulisic, and Havertz to Werner.

Further, in the final third Pulisic was important completing five out of his five attempted dribbles. While he lost eight out of his 16 offensive duels, most of his successful ones were closer to the box. Reece James also completed two out of two dribbles which he attempted in the final third after which he often delivered a cross into the box. He also won most of his offensive duels in the final third. Similarly, Chilwell was more successful with his offensive duels in the final third, losing five out of his seven offensive duels lost in the defensive phase and losing the ball only twice in the attacking third. He also completed two out of three dribbles successfully, both in the final third.

Whilst Chelsea did well to find the wing-backs in space, the successful crosses were low. Of the 12 attempted crosses, only two were successful, both from James. Perhaps this was a game for Olivier Giroud or Tammy Abraham to play as they pose more of aerial threat. Further, while Pulisic did his level best to drive into the box, there was little support from Havertz.

Havertz made good runs from deep after dropping into midfield, however, his final third output was lackluster. To his credit, he was often forced to drop into midfield to support the defense in transition as Kante and Jorginho were either being pressed or dragged wide to prevent overloads on the flanks.

According to Wyscout data, Chelsea had 26 attacks with only three shots. 24 of these attacks were positional attacks whilst two were counter attacks. This makes sense as Chelsea dominated the ball for most of the game, whilst United looked to soak the pressure and play on the counter.

All in all, Chelsea had a very subpar attacking performance, while there were some flashes and moments there was nothing really substantial to show for. To understand the key attacking moments in more detail check this article.

Defensive 

Defensively, the Blues found themselves vulnerable in the space in behind the wingbacks. Further, a compact backline defending in a low/mid-block made it easy for United to attack from the flanks. However, Chelsea was bailed out on several occasions by Silva and Azpilicueta who made a lot of defensive blocks and interceptions in the box. Silva made nine whilst Azpilicueta made eight interceptions which were almost all in the box from crosses or passes from wide areas.

The clean sheet was also largely due to United not being very clinical up top both in terms of finishing and passing. Mendy’s performance was also brilliant, as he made crucial saves especially the last-minute save against a shot from Rashford. Defensive performance is harder to quantify from statistics, to get a view of key defensive moments from the game check out this article. 

All data is from Wyscout.