Things to look for as Chelsea hosts Leeds United: Tears, tactics and goals

Chelsea plays host to Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds on Saturday evening in the Premier League. Here’s what to look out for in this mouthwatering encounter.

Two old foes—one young, one not so—squaring up to do battle once more. It’s a battle at the Bridge, a battle for pride, a battle for points and a battle for the first time in the top flight for decades. ‘Stop Crying Frank Lampard’ the fake fans in the away end may cry through crackling speakers, but the home supporters—present for the first time since before Project restart—will be all be too ready to fire back at them, a noiseless crying face and a pair of binoculars all they’ll need. We’re talking about Chelsea versus Leeds; we’re talking about Frank Lampard versus Marcelo Bielsa; we’re talking about Good versus Evil.

Here’s a few things to look out for as the Blues welcome Leeds to Stamford Bridge for the first time since the Whites were promoted back into the top flight:

1. Tears

We all know the tears are coming. They’re inevitable in such a seismic matchup. The only question is from whence they’ll flow and, given the form of both sides, it’s hard to definitely say which side that’ll be. Indeed, given the attacking verve of both squads, if you initially read this as ‘tears’ as in ‘tearing through a defense’, then you wouldn’t be so wrong either.

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Leeds have had 48 shots in their last two games. That astonishing stat—made more astonishing by the fact that they came against Arsenal and Everton—is part of the reason they, aside from Liverpool, have had the most total shots in the Premier League (153). Like Paul Thomas Anderson circa 1999, they wake up wanting to shoot and shoot and shoot, then shoot some more.

The issue is—and, especially in relation to 1999, you could say the Anderson allegory hasn’t finished—they’re not always on target. In that particular stat, the Whites are level in second with, yep you guessed it, Chelsea, on 54. Where the two sides are not level is the next stat.

2. Goals

We’re expecting to see goals galore, and then some. With Chelsea’s joint-highest total of 22 and Leeds’ Manchester City-tying 15, it’ll be hard to avoid them. That difference is fairly marked when you consider the Blues have had 21 fewer shots, and even more so when you add that Bielsa’s side has conceded seven more than Lampard’s with 17 thus far.

Still, no Chelsea player has scored more goals in the league thus far than former Blue Patrick Bamford. Keeping him quiet on his seminal return to Stamford Bridge will be a key part in making sure the team end up on the right side of the result. But before we get to the tactics that may well decide the game, we couldn’t end a conversation about goals without talking about the goal merchant himself, Sir Olivier Giroud and his four musketeers, at Sevilla in midweek. Look for him to start and probably score.

3. Tactics

Tactics, tactics, tactics. For all the hullabaloo about Spygate and Marcelo Bielsa’s taxing tactics, Chelsea and Leeds are fairly similarly tactically inclined. They both like to keep hold of the ball, and like to do bold things with it. They don’t hang around; they press, they harry, they steal and they score.

However, one scores more than the other, as mentioned, and concedes less too. Which prompts the question—though we already know the answer—whether Bielsa will opt for a less gung ho approach at the weekend? No, no he won’t. He never has and he won’t start now. Which is certainly scary for the Blues given their last two opponents’ proclivity for impotence.

It won’t be scary for long though because, in Chelsea, Leeds has the hardest defensive test they’ve faced since the opening day at Anfield. A Leeds victory would likely either come out of a cagey opening 80′ in which they frustrate Chelsea with industry then capitalise with clinical finishing, a la Everton, or a blistering Bamford masterclass. However, if the Blues can strut the way they did in Sevilla, it should prove to much for Bielsa’s hustlers and bustlers to bear.

What are some of the things you’ll be looking for in the Blues’ match against Leeds? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!